


Something To Protect

by NipahNipahMarchingSong



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Childishness, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Getting Over Problems, Grief/Mourning, Juliana (OC) - Freeform, Juliana (OC) Has Issues, Juliana Needs a Hug, Kidnapping, Mental Anguish, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Overprotective OC, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Varian (Disney), Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Recovery, Reunions, Schizophrenia, Separation Anxiety, Separations, Varian Needs a Hug (Disney), Varian is precious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22861708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NipahNipahMarchingSong/pseuds/NipahNipahMarchingSong
Summary: Juliana has always been clingy towards Varian, that much is obvious. Other villagers viewed him as a sign of danger, Juliana saw him as her lifeboat in the booming ocean that lurks within her. Despite her being noticeably delicate and frail, Juliana continues to live a happy life living with him and his father, along with their pets.However, one mistake occurred on a snowy day. One that could change their lives forever.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Original Female Character(s), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider &; Juliana (OC), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider &; Original Character(s), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, Varian (Disney)/Juliana (OC), Varian (Disney)/Original Character(s), Varian (Disney)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Rapunzel and Cassandra hadn't expected to fall into a trap upon entering the laboratory. Their feet were now stuck in goo, and they can't move them whatsoever. The ‘wizard’ who they assumed to be scary turned out to be an adorable fourteen-year-old boy. That boy denied being the one who put that tin can on top of the door. It was set so that whoever was to enter through that door would be drenched by ice cold water. Then, if it hadn’t been this young boy, then who was it?

Then they saw the image of a young girl with ginger hair hiding behind him. While the boy was greeting his new guests with absolute excitement, someone who seemed to be around his age was hiding from them. The look on her face screamed suspicion. It was clear that she didn’t trust the two girls who were standing in front of her, and that she was hiding behind this boy, believing that he would be able to protect her. Then she must've helped Varian set that trap in the first place. The girl barely trusted anyone at all, it seems.

Both the boy and the girl seemed to be around their early teenager stages, and perhaps they were just exceedingly mischievous? The boy had taken off his mask and his coat, with the girl still standing behind him, clutching his arms for the sake of her protection. Did she react this way to every guest that there was? It was very possible for her to have trust issues.

Rapunzel chuckled. “Got it. So, what is this?”

“Oh, it’s—it’s a chemical compound of my own design,” The boy—who they all knew as Varian—explained. “Thank you.”

Varian hopped out of the stool that he was standing on, but the girl who had been hiding behind his back this whole time never stopped clinging to him. Everywhere he went, she kept her hands tightened to his shirt, still staring at the two guests with a suspicious glare. Could you even call that serious? It was like a toddler was trying to intimidate someone and failing.

It turns out Varian was walking over to a raccoon that had been caught in the same trap as Rapunzel and Cassandra were. He was holding a small capsule filled with white chemical as he walked over to the animal, the ginger-haired girl still clinging towards him.

“Uh, see, we have a bit of a critter problem out here.” Varian explained, kneeling down and pouring the chemical onto the pink goo the three of them were stuck in, freeing the raccoon. He picked it up with his hands and began walking towards another room. “And through the miracle of modern alchemy, I have found a humane way to solve the problem.”

He said that as he shoved the raccoon into another room. Much to the surprise of only the two new women who just entered, a small little fox came leaping out of a table and dashed towards that room. It was a very small fox, and anyone who saw it would say that it was a newborn without a second thought. It’s eyes were huge and black. You would look at it and think that it’s the type who would cry over the smallest of things, who would search for sympathy once scolded.

“You’re Varian, right?” Rapunzel questioned him. “I hope you don’t mind if I ask, but who is that girl behind you?”

“Ah, you mean Juliana?” he answered. “Yeah, she’s been my partner for four years. My apologies. She was afraid someone wicked would come inside, so I hope you move on and forgive her for it.”

“This is riveting,” Cassandra complained. “Could you get us out of here?"

“Ha,” Varian added. “Where was that neutralizing particle?"

Just as he said that, the raccoon that was in the room made an attempt to escape. Like he did every time, Varian shoved it back. “G-Get out of here!”  
He walked over to the two girls, knelt down, and sprinkled the neutralizing particles on the goo that they had been trapped in, thus abrogating it. Even while he was doing this, the young girl named Juliana (who was also kneeling down) wouldn’t let herself go. No matter what the situation was, she kept on clinging to him as though he was a lifeboat. As though he was the only reason why she was still alive.

“I am so sorry,” Varian added with a light chuckle, still kneeling down. “Your highness.”

Juliana’s eyes widened at this. How come she hadn’t realized that the princess and her bodyguard (?) standing in front of her? She had to do something immediately!

“Mm,” Juliana finally spoke out, her suspicious glare turning into an angelic smile. “Yes, I am sorry, too. I was thinking of using that trap in case someone evil was going to show up. Normally those who know this house enters somewhere else where no traps are present. So, my deepest apologies.”

“Your highness?” Rapunzel asked them both. “Wait, you two know who I am?”

“Uh, how could I not?” Varian laughed. “Look at your hair! . . . Your highness.” He cleared his throat afterward.

“Oh, please,” Rapunzel said, laughing along with him. “Just Rapunzel.”

“Wow,” Varian said in amazement. “Really?”

“Ahahahahaha!” Juliana—who was once silent and suspicious of the two girls—was now laughing like crazy. “I see, I see! You consider us as your friends! Be prepared when you’re friends with Juliana! You might face certain doom if you’re not! Ahahahahaha!”

Juliana didn't seem to be a very nice girl... She seemed like the mischievous type of gal. If she helped him set up that trap, then had she been taught by him? "Facing certain doom". They wondered what she meant by that, not to mention the sneaky expression that she imprinted on her face when she said those words.

Varian stood up from the ground, Juliana following after him. She wasn’t clinging towards him anymore. In fact, she stood in one place while Varian went behind Rapunzel to check out her hair.

“Okay, so fantastical stories of your hair returning have spread throughout Corona,” Varian explained. “Yeah, people say it’s magic, but personally, I don’t really believe that.” Then he moved his feet towards their front again. “Now, as you have probably guessed, I am a man of science, specifically alche—”

“Alchemy, we know,” Cassandra interrupted.

Both Varian and Juliana’s faces converted into ones of surprise after hearing her words. While Varian seemed to be more shocked, Juliana appeared to be more offended. Her whale of an ego was wounded.

“What insolence!” she shouted. “Doesn’t anyone here know the proper way of greeting anyone?!”

Cassandra rolled her eyes at Juliana, and just before the little missy could utter another complaint, Cassandra opened her mouth while pointing at Varian’s chest. “Now listen, kids. We need your help, but let me make something clear. What happens here stays here.”

Then, she pulled Varian up by his collar with her green eyes staring into his baby blues. “You got it?”

“Aah!” Juliana shrieked. “Varian!”


	2. Oof! Juliana's Forest of Doom!

Juliana was not happy to be mistaken for Varian’s younger sister. It’s true that the both of them were in a stable friendship, but her being known as his sister was humiliating. That was what Eugene thought when he first entered. When he first opened the door, a bucket of ice-cold water fell on him. That was Juliana’s prank for the day, and the results were satisfactory for her. Eugene was just the perfect target for all of the pranks that she could pull up. Could she use him to test them out? Ah, yes, the forest would be a great spot.

The day when they met Rapunzel, Cassandra, and Eugene wasn’t as pleasant as they had hoped. Varian’s invention, which was made to provide the village with help, ended up ruining it. He sulked about it for the rest of the day, and Juliana’s mind was too complicated for her to do something about it. He was slightly burdened and annoyed with that part of her. Her past was what made her so clingy towards Varian, and he knew very well how onerous her sorrows were. So despite Juliana’s dependent personality, Varian continued to protect her as much as he could. 

Inside a room in the castle, Rapunzel was starting to finish the cake that Eugene had baked for her (with the help of Varian and Juliana, though it was mostly Varian). Cassandra was there, too, along with the two teenagers who were standing behind her. Cassandra would get into fights with Eugene any time soon, and Eugene would fight back and defend his ego. Rapunzel would be forced to watch them both, making failed attempts to try and get them to reconcile. Meanwhile, Varian and Juliana would stand in the background, unsure of what to do. If only things could stay that way. 

“I haven’t even ventured most of Corona yet!” Rapunzel said. “What’s the most interesting part about the kingdom?”

“Well, there’s that place that they call the deep woods,” Eugene responded. “Honestly, I’ve actually never been there before, and I, too, yearn to see what is kept behind those forest greens!”

“What are you saying? We are not taking her there,” Cassandra demanded. “Many have said that that place is very dangerous! We’re not supposed to go there.”

“Ahahahahaha!” Juliana laughed out loud. “That place used to be our playground back when Varian and I were kids! Believe me, it is not as bad as it sounds! You guys will have lots of fun!”

Because it was the mischievous Juliana who said it, no one believed in her. There was that one time where she made Eugene trip over a string. He almost landed his face on some apple pie that she laid out on the ground. There was an upcoming Science contest coming, and it was already confirmed that Varian was going to join. Juliana, as one of his closest friends, was going to join his team. Knowing Juliana, she would probably cheat and get away with it.

“Mmhm,” Varian added. “If you want to go there so badly, we can give you guys a tour! Completely free by Varian and Juliana! Welcome aboard!”

“Sounds great!” Rapunzel commented. “I’m in!”

“Are you sure that it’s going to be a fun experience?” asked Eugene. 

“Considering you, the fun may be too much for you to handle!” Juliana dissed. “Can a man be so cowardly as to not try?”

The words that she used and the sneaky face that she made hit Eugene’s pride immediately. He was not about to get defeated! Not by some young 13-year-old mischievous little brat! 

“Oh, don’t you dare underestimate me!” He shouted at her. “I’ll show you how brave Eugene Fitzherbert is!”

“Ahahahahaha! We’ll see for ourselves!” Juliana snickered. “I’d be the criteria for judging!”

“Bet he’s going to scream in agony,” Cassandra smirked. “No one ever comes out of that forest without a single injury.”

“Yeah, well, except for us!” Varian added. “R.I.P to them but we’re different!”

“You can still back down if you want!” Juliana added. “We’re not going to force you, you know!”

However, her face said a different story. She was asking the three of them whether they were brave enough to take on the challenge

At that moment, Cassandra and Eugene stared at each other’s eyes. Their irises were competent, as though they were challenging each other to see which one of them was braver. Rapunzel didn’t feel the foreboding tension between them both. She thought that they were simply questioning each other whether they should accept the challenge or not. Of course, Cassandra was going to make everything a challenge, and she was not going to accept it if Eugene out of all people won. She needed to be on the spotlight, even for just once.

“Fine, we accept the chall—uhh, tour!” Eugene declared. “Bring it on!”

Citizens of Corona always told each other never to come near that forest. They especially use it as a warning to their children, saying that they may get hurt or abducted by some supernatural being. Varian and Juliana played there a lot when they were children, and they have considered it their playground at this point. They used to go to that forest all the time to play, so they memorized every portion of it. Others may know of the forest as dangerous, but that wasn’t what they saw.

Varian had already gotten used to Juliana’s sneaky behavior. No wonder why she had a fox as a pet. Could be cute, yes, but also sly and even a bit of a rascal. Anyone who knew her well would not listen to her words so quickly. That could be a lie, for all anyone knew. Juliana was the type who would do anything in order to win. Cheating was a daily thing for her. 

“That’s good!” Juliana said. “This’ll be a wonderful time for us! Come on!”

When Juliana said to be careful when you’re friends with her, she meant it.

For the most part, the trip to the forest was a normal one. Just two pre-teens giving a tour to three adults in the woods. The forest that was there was nothing special at first. It was just your average forest, with the green trees and the scent of nature. Sure, it was as beautiful as it could be, but it was the same as every other forest. Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra didn’t know what the other citizens of Corona meant when they said that the forest was the ‘forest of doom’. Either way, it was thanks to the both of them that the three got their parts of the cool breeze. 

It was supposed to be normal, but then Varian and Juliana put a stop to their tracks, and the other three were forced to stop behind them.

“This is the part where you have to follow our every step,” Juliana suddenly said. “You must not take a step that is one inch away from ours.”

“What?” Eugene blurted out. “You mean, literally every step?”

“Every step indeed!” Varian responded. “One mistake and your life could change in an instant! If you ask me, it’d be safer to do as Juliana says.”

However, there was one curious girl who just can’t seem to figure out how dangerous the forest could be. That, of course, was none other than Rapunzel. She was looking at a kite string that was dangling from a tree branch, awaiting for someone to pull it down. As expected, she had never seen something like it in real life before. So, while Eugene and Cassandra were being interrogated by the two children, she approached that rope in curiosity. Pascal, too, was looking at the kite string with the same expression on his face.

“What do you think, Pascal?” Rapunzel asked him. “Should we pull it?”

The chameleon, not knowing what to expect, gave her a thumbs up while nodding.

“Alright, alright!” She added. “Here we go!”

Rapunzel tugged on the kite string with both of her hands, pulling it downwards. As soon as she did that, an army of spikes fell down from the tree. Cassandra and Eugene were quick to realize it, and they both pushed Rapunzel out of the way with all their might, the three of them landing on the ground. The spikes ended up striking the ground next to them instead, digging into the soil.

“What in the world was that?!” Cassandra exclaimed. “Are you two trying to get us killed or what?!”

“Oh, speaking of which, that brings back my childhood memories!” Varian smiled brightly. “I remember Juliana setting up this trap when we were five years old!”

“Sheesh, that was close,” Juliana mumbled. “The blades of those spears are covered with salt, so if one of them strikes you, the particles of that salt will enter the open wound.”

“I did not expect this to turn into some sort of guerilla battlefield!” Eugene shouted.

According to both Varian and Juliana, the former was the one to teach the latter how to set up traps. Juliana became obsessed with setting them up ever since. Wherever she went, she would prepare a trap so that, if a bad guy was to interfere, they would be caught immediately. The forest was apparently one of the first places where Juliana set her traps. Because it was from their childhood, Juliana was still more than immature and therefore didn’t know what was dangerous or not. Therefore, while the traps that Juliana set in her age of thirteen were mostly harmless, the ones in this forest were deadly.

Varian warned his three new friends to watch out for Juliana’s deadliest traps; some of which included being burned to death by a flammable chemical or drowning in quicksand. He also warned them that salt wasn’t the only substance that could worsen injuries, but also sand, dust, and dog poop. Juliana was telling her friends to follow her every step because all the other areas are filled with deadly traps. At least the both of them confirmed that not all the traps in the forest were deadly, such as the one where the victim would simply have mud splashed in their face.

Rapunzel got up from the ground. “I’m starting to think that getting lost wasn’t the reason the citizens warned us not to come here.”

At least that was one thing that both Eugene and Cassandra could agree on.

“Alright, alright! Shall we carry on?” Juliana sneered. “If we don’t get home soon, the sun will set completely. Once it’s dark, the forest might become more dangerous, even for me.”

“Don’t speak as if you’re in trouble!” Eugene argued. “You are the one who brought us here! Why, oh why, is the handsome Eugene Fitzherbert being attacked by some kid’s life-threatening booby traps?!”

“You can handle facing some sort of evil witch but somehow you can’t get past _this?_ ” Juliana asked him, slightly disappointed, then she suddenly laughed again. “Then that must mean that my majestic pranks can catch witches, too!”

“So you know that it can catch witches!” Cassandra yelled. “If even witches can be caught, then what about us?!”

“That’s because they don’t have my guide!” Juliana continued. “As long as you follow me, everything will be alright! Come on! We don’t have all day!”

“Come on, you guys!” Rapunzel smiled. “At least give the two of them a chance! I’m sure that they will protect us along the way! Right?”

“Don’t worry, just leave it to us,” Varian added. “Just follow our lead and this journey will be a piece of cake,”

“I’m not trusting kids ever again.” Eugene said to himself.

“Oh come on,” Rapunzel assured him. “We’ll be fine, Eugene!”

Eugene looked at Rapunzel and gave up. No matter what he did, he just couldn’t resist her. So he smiled. “I’m only doing this because I believe in you, sunshine.”

“Thank you, Eugene.” Rapunzel said to him. “Anyway, I’m sure it won’t be that bad!”

It was very bad.

“Hey!” Eugene exclaimed. “Where are Varian and Juliana?!”

“I don’t know!” Rapunzel exclaimed. “Variaaan! Julianaaaa!”

“Ugh!” Cassandra groaned. “I knew we shouldn’t have come here!”

She became upset over the thought of getting tricked by two teenagers, so she began to walk away from the forest. She didn’t even notice that she had already stepped on a trap. Suddenly, she fell into a secret pitfall, with only her head sticking out. That trap was made to capture three people, so Rapunzel ended up having a bucket stuck to her head and Eugene was caught in a gigantic net.

“What the?!” Eugene screeched. “Agghhh! We got caught in a trap!”

Rapunzel was saying something, but her voice inaudible because of the bucket that was affixed to her head. She made vain attempts to getting it off, to no avail. Meanwhile, Cassandra was struggling and doing her best to remove herself from the pitfall.

“See, Cassandra?!” Eugene shouted. “This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t walk away!”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t suggest coming here!” Cassandra argued.

All three of them made attempts to get out of their traps, but to no avail. They were lucky that it wasn’t the burning chemical or the quicksand, though.

“Oh, come on!” Eugene complained. “This net is too strong! How can a pair of two children set this trap perfectly?!”

“Of course you can’t get out of that!” Cassandra shouted. “Why don’t you be a man for once and rescue us!?”

“You’re the one who should be rescuing me! Are you seriously expecting me to do something while being trapped in this stupid net?!”

The net that Eugene was trapped in was attached to a tree branch, and now he was hanging two meters off of the ground. He couldn’t even remember how he got caught in this trap just because of a mistake that Cassandra made. Agh, that Juliana!

“Oh, you’re kidding!” Cassandra screeched. “I have to go to the bathroom _now?!_ ”

“At least you can see clearly!” Rapunzel shrieked. “I can’t get this bucket off! I can’t see anything! Anything at all!”

Pascal was also trying to get the bucket off of Rapunzel’s head, but his hands were too small and couldn’t succeed. It was clear on his face that he was doing all he could.

Bucket Rapunzel was struggling so much that the bucket her head was in began to hit the trapped Eugene over and over again. He groaned and howled, hearing her muffled apologies from inside the wooden bucket. There were some moments as to where she didn’t even know that she was hitting him. Pascal was getting dizzier and dizzier the more Rapunzel struggled. Cassandra was still moving her body in an attempt to get out of the pitfall trap. Every muscle in her body moved, but she just couldn’t get out of there. What a disaster the forest had become.

“I’m so sorry you guys can’t get out!” Varian apologized, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. “We’ll make it up to you later!”

“Ugh, I already told all of you, didn’t I?” Juliana pouted, arriving with him. “You were supposed to stay behind me!”

It turned out Juliana wasn’t taking them to the forest to show them the wonderful view, but to brag about all the traps she had set within it’s depths.


	3. Pranking Eugene For No Reason Whatsoever

“So, you have an invention of your own, eh~?” Juliana’s voice was filled with a mischievous aura.

“Yesss!” Rapunzel exclaimed with vigor. “By what you mean, you and Varian are joining, too?”

“Ahahahahahaha! We’re competing today! And if anyone tries to surpass our invention, they’ll be stuck in their little, bitsy dream world where there’s no trace of reality! We’re the absolute best here! This contest was made for us!”

As smart as Juliana may be, she’s too prideful for her own good.

Whenever she accomplishes something, she will boast about all the details about the prank that she just set. If she was put in an actual battle, she will set a trap on her enemies, but she would boast about how amazing she was afterwards. This would give her enemies enough time to think of an escape route and attack her. She would’ve won the battle if she just didn’t boast. No one knew if it was better of worse if she was on their side. Sure, her traps could be fatal and give them an advantage, but her boastful attitude would just make things worse. Maybe she needs to get over that pride of hers for at least a bit.

Juliana had helped out Varian in his invention for later. He honestly could handle it by himself, but she decided to help him out. In the end, they became participants for the same invention, so they were basically partners as they usually were.

The door to the room opened, and Eugene came through the door. As soon as he did, he screeched when the mouth of a wooden bucket filled with ice cold water landed on his head . . . again. The fabric of the clothes that he was wearing began sticking to his skin as more droplets of water fell from his hair. The ones who were standing in the room—Varian, Juliana, Rapunzel, and Cassandra—were staring at him with perplexed expressions. A vast amount of icy water landed on the carpet underneath their feet, dyeing it darker.

Eugene threw the wooden bucket off and shouted. “Juliana! It was you again, wasn’t it?!!”

“Ahahahahaha!” Juliana laughed viciously. “Oh my, oh my, Mr. Eugene! Accusing a young maiden of such a horrifying thing without enough evidence! May I ask where your manners have run off to?”

“As if there would be anyone else here who would pull off such a prank!”

“Juliana is a good girl~!”

“A good girl wouldn’t set evil pranks such as these!”

“I would like for my pranks to be known not as evil, but as entertaining, please~!”

“You little—!!”

Juliana began dashing towards all of the areas in the room with a frisky smile on her lips. Eugene, on the other hand, was running after her with all of his energy, eager to get his revenge.

“Ah, they’re at it again,” Rapunzel chuckled.

“Of course he falls for it,” Cassandra laughed. “Did you really expect so much of Eugene Fitzherbert?”

“At least she’s not using the deadly traps anymore,” Varian smiled.

“Oh, you guys, give Eugene a break!” Rapunzel said to them with her casual warmth. “It seems like he’s gotten better at handling her attacks now.”

Suddenly, numerous pranks of Juliana’s were activated by their aggressive pursuit. Eugene certainly hadn’t expected a random broom to fly at him, as well mugs, cups, bowls, and water kettles. Eugene, skilled as he was, managed to percieve all of these attacks coming towards him in a swift movement. He had to lift up a small stool to shield himself from their horrific blows, or dodge them as quickly as his body could. He didn’t need to lose to some . . . some mischievous little kid!

A gasp fled from Juliana’s throat as Eugene managed to dodge all of her attacks successfully. The place that she was running to was the top-right corner of the room that they were in, and now Eugene was cornering her. With him standing right in front of her while holding the dirty towel that was used as one of her attacks, he sneered in victory. Juliana’s eyes were brimming with bitterness. She wasn’t happy about how she was cornered in the same room she had set a multitude of attacks in. It was not healthy for her pride, not at all. She wasn’t happy about Varian seeing her in a state like that. The cute boy who she always wanted to impress. Therefore, she needed to find a way to get out of the mess immediately.

“That’s the end of your evil reign, Juliana!” He smirked.

“Tsk,” She hissed, then grinned sarcastically. “I’m impressed, Mr. Eugene. Never in my imaginations did I think you could ever win against me.”

“Hahaha! Well, unfortunately for you, I am not the type to fall for the same trick twice!”

“That doesn’t mean that your creation isn’t going to fail in the exposition later, if you ever joined!” she chortled, in a pathetic attempt to taunt him.

“I think that your pride is a little too high, Ms. Prank McGee! I’ll have you know that I also know how to invent things!”

“Um, Eugene,” Rapunzel interrupted him. “I don’t think sewing is considered.”

Rapunzel hadn’t meant it for sure, but Eugene’s embarrassment was up to the max, especially because Juliana and Cassandra were in the same room.

Juliana snorted, which soon turned into a laugh filled with mockery. “Ahahahahaha!! Too bad for you! Today, we will soon see Mr. Eugene standing in the empty field, languishing over his own loss all alone! …Uwah!”

Eugene turned towards her, then he suddenly pulled her up by her back collar. Her eyes widened, then she waved her arms and flung her legs in an attempt to get out of his grasp. The way that she was struggling reminded Eugene of a small, misbehaved cat that was trying to get away from their mistakes. All of a sudden, he realized that cats wouldn’t even know how to set such horrifying pranks on others. From that hypothesis, Juliana was even worse than cats!

“You use such tough words, you know, for someone who can’t even do anything by herself!” Eugene shouted at her.

“You’re lying!” She screamed. “What proof did you have to declare that I set all of those anyway?!”

“Go on! Tell me that you’re sorry! Or else you will get a taste of my forehead flick!”

Eugene cocked his index finger at his thumb, and brought it close to Juliana’s forehead.

“Hey! I-I’m against violence! Your proof percentage is all the way down to zero anyway!”

“In case you didn’t know, my forehead flick is actually quite painful. Unless you want to feel it, then…!”

“Nooooooooooo!! Stop! Get your hands off of me, you beast!”

“Don’t use words that people will take the wrong way!”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!” Juliana broke into a hysterical sob half-way through. “Variaaaaaaaaan!”

Before Eugene could flick Juliana’s forehead, he felt a small hand clutching at his clothes. When he looked behind him, there stood Varian. The young alchemist was looking up at him with those puppy eyes that barely anyone could resist.

“Sorry about Juliana,” He said. “Just, please forgive her. She really missed you because she hasn’t seen you in a while.”

Oh, how can anyone think about hurting this kid with those blue eyes of his? Not even Eugene could resist him! The former thief ended up letting go of Juliana’s collar, and she eventually landed on her feet. She was still under the verge of tears, closing her eyes shut as she prepared herself for his forehead flick.

“Waaaaaaaahhhhh!” Juliana whined. “No, I wasn’t scared! Waaaaaahhhh!”

“Aww, don’t cry, Juliana!” Varian approached his partner and put his arm around her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to destroy him for you!”

As he said that, Varian gently stroked the head of his prankster friend. It was hard to believe that the two of them were about the same age. Juliana was the type who could learn a thing or even a million from Varian.

“I recommend you set an even better trap next time!” Varian added to his statement. “One that would destroy your enemies for sure!”

“Wait, you’re on her side now?!” Eugene gasped. “Why, the two of you—!!”

Thwack!

Cassandra hit Eugene with the same wooden bucket that fell on his head just a few moments ago. The surface of the timber smashed against his head and he would have collapsed had she hit him a little harder.

“Okay, that’s enough for today,” Cassandra mentioned.

“Cassandra!” Eugene looked back at her, rage flickering in his eyes. “Don’t interfere!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I made it a duty of mine to protect these two kids, you know.”

As Cassandra was lecturing Eugene about why it was wrong for him to get so heated up because of two kids, Juliana moved spots. She was behind Cassandra while the latter was still scolding Eugene, and she was wearing a smug grin on her face, hiding it from Cassandra as much as she could.

“If you continue being unfair to them,” Cassandra added. “I might get serious.”

“But Juliana’s the one being unfair here!” Eugene argued.

“Kuuu~.” Juliana’s eyes turned into that of puppy eyes, similar to the ones that Varian was wearing earlier, while grasping Cassandra’s arms from behind. Clearly, she was making attempts to achieve her sympathy.

“It’s okay. I’ll have a talk with Juliana later,” Cassandra added. “Did you know that it’s quite immature for you to react in such a way just because of a child?”

“Miss Cassandra’s right about what she’s saying~!” Juliana showed her face to Eugene, and unlike the puppy eyes she wore before, this time her eyes showed every tint of mischief. “Overreacting just because a child won the fight is quite childish~!!”

After saying that, Juliana ran from the scene, fleeing towards the door. Before making her escape, Juliana created a salute while still looking at Eugene, sticking her tongue out. What a way of showing ‘respect’. Eugene noticed this, and yelled at the prankster. As always, she was going to escape from her own mess!

“Hey, you! Don’t even think about running away!” Eugene shouted, pointing his index finger at her.

To his advantage, he was still holding the filthy towel that she threw at him earlier. With that prodigious aim of his, he might be able to gain victory against Juliana, for once. He just had to make sure that the towel would hit her directly in her face. Eugene put all of his strength in throwing the towel. As he felt the strength in his arms, he quickly threw it at Juliana. The towel flew in the air, sprinting towards her.

Juliana, already knowing that Eugene was going to throw that towel, ducked right in front of the door. The door opened, and King Frederic came out to declare a minor announcement about the exposition later on. Because Juliana had dodged the towel, it hit Frederic in the face instead. Eugene shrieked, and a smile crept up on Juliana’s face. Cassandra, Varian, and Rapunzel could only stare at them, clearly stunned. Frederic stood there frozen, unable to move out of shock. When the towel fell to the ground, the disappointment in his face was clear. He was so upset that his eyes and his eyebrows were twitching while he grit his teeth.

“Who did that?” Frederic asked them, with his anger obvious in his irises.

Juliana and Cassandra’s fingers pointed towards Eugene, while Varian and Rapunzel ended up joining the bandwagon. Eugene shrieked again, clearly not amused by how everyone was treating him. The king was so furious, that everyone in the room was able to sense the scorching flame inside of him. He looked at Eugene with the angriest eyes anyone had ever seen of him, and he screamed.

“EUGENE FITZHERBERT!!”

His scream was followed by Eugene’s complaint. “That’s just so unfair!!”


	4. Juliana, The Piece of Crap Prankster

The competitors were preparing themselves for the contest that was about to take place. Juliana was still boasting to everyone about how she and Varian were about to destroy the others later on, while Varian kept trying to tell her to calm down because he felt embarrassed. Rapunzel and Eugene were working on an invention of their own, as they were the first people to present. Some random chick was also preparing her own invention, and her face looked like that of a prostitue’s (according to Juliana, anyway). Varian’s face was clearly indicating that he was nervous, and Juliana put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

“Varian, you’re nervous, aren’t you?” she asked. “It’s okay. You know us. We’ll be able to destroy them for sure!”

“Thanks,” he responded. “I’m just frightened. Maybe, I won’t be able to impress Cass.”

Juliana attempted to shake off the jealousy that struck her chest. Yes, she loved Varian. She would gladly make him hers if she got the chance at an older age. Even so, his affection was directed towards Cassandra. If that was what would make him happy, then Juliana would accept it. It was all for Varian’s sake, after all.

Juliana smirked. “Don’t worry. I have made sure that we’ll win this contest. Don’t tell me that you doubt me!”

Varian’s eyes widened. “Juli . . . What did you do?”

“Ahahahahaha~! Your predictions are correct!”

All of a sudden, the both of them heard screams erupting from the audience. Varian was surprised, but Juliana was standing there calmly as though expecting it. That impish grin of hers was still attached to her face. It was very clear to him now; his partner had cheated. She messed up Rapunzel and Eugene’s invention to give her and Varian a chance of winning. 

Varian, both concerned and curious, pushed the curtains aside to witness pieces of lumber scattered everywhere. Several of them were crippled into many particles. Juliana had placed some sort of trap in it unbeknowist to them, which caused it to be damaged. Some pieces of timber landed on the audience, most of them tainted with molecules of dust. Rapunzel and Eugene stood frozen in the stage, astonished by the disaster their invention had just caused. Sometimes, you’d wonder how Varian and Juliana even became friends in the first place. While Varian wass never happy with the debacles that his inventions often cause, Juliana was always proud of hers.

“Wait! How?!” Rapunzel stared at her demolished invention, still astounded by the ruse. “But it worked before!”

“Oh, no!” Juliana said suddenly. “What a catastrophe! Luckily, it has nothing to do with me, you know~? Ahahahahaha!”

Eugene was speechless. He began to look around for signs of an ambush, and that was when he saw Juliana and Varian looking at them from the curtains. Varian was wearing a face of apology, but Juliana’s was the exact opposite. She wore an expression of someone who just successfully cheated and got away with it. Judging from her face alone, Eugene was sure that it was her who set them up. Furious, he walked over to her and finally managed to flick her forehead. Juliana backed away in shock, clutching her throbbing forehead while looking up at Eugene. 

“W-W-What do you think you’re doing?!” she cried out. “You should know better than to flick an innocent maiden’s delicate forehead!”

“Who cares about your gender at this point?!” Eugene yelled. “Juliana, you messed up our invention, didn’t you?!”

“How judgmental of you. I’m not that low. Despite what you see of me, I believe in equality. You should know that.”

“Oh, really? Then explain to me who else in Corona would do something so wicked! Just a few hours ago, you were boasting about how you and Varian can win the contest for sure. Now, tell me, isn’t this too strange to be a coincidence?”

“Eugene,” Rapunzel walked over to him, her hand on his shoulder. “If Juliana said she didn’t do it, then she probably didn’t. Besides, winning isn’t our main priority here! We entered this contest because we wish to have fun! It’s perfectly fine with me!”

Eugene sighed, slightly disappointed. “You’re too sweet, blondie. But I guess you’re right. It’s better that we joined instead of running away.”

Rapunzel smiled. “With that said, I think we can gladly call this an experience! Now, if there are any more contests coming up, we’ll be sure to join them, too!”

Even as Rapunzel said that, Eugene continued staring at Juliana with displeasure. Of course, Rapunzel didn’t notice it. Juliana, on the other hand, was sticking her tongue out at Eugene as she hid behind Varian again, as though using him as a human shield. Eugene then mimicked her, sticking his tongue out as well. 

Eugene honestly regretted letting his guard down, especially when it was around this Juliana chick. He underestimated the incompetent Juliana for far too long. Even though her inventions were nowhere near as spectacular as Varian’s, Juliana still had her own methods of biting back. Eugene couldn’t help but wonder why Varian wouldn’t prevent Juliana from setting these traps so suddenly. 

“Next!”

The curtains closed as the judge announced for the next participant’s entrance. Varian took a deep breath as he looked at those who were standing before him. He felt his heart beating rapidly, as well as the hand of a young girl on his. 

“It’s okay, Vari,” she smiled. “We’re indestructible now.”

The confidence that she had in her made Varian smile, even though it was too much that it wasn’t good for her pride. He gained that confidence in him, and reluctantly opened up the curtains to reveal a lingering audience. Both Varian and Juliana stepped out into the audience. Much to the surprise of literally anyone who knew her, Juliana was wearing a soft smile, and no one could ever suspect that she was a master prankster. She always wore this as a façade, pretending to be a nice girl to achieve everyone’s fondness. 

“Behold!” Varian started. “The power of alchemy!”

“We are what?!”

Disqualified, or so the judge said that they were. Juliana couldn’t understand it. Everyone was impressed by their invention, and the judge was having the same reaction. And yet, just because of their stupid assistant, they were disqualified from the competition. Shorty (their assistant) fell, and this accident almost caused a knife to be thrown at the judge’s face. In short, they were disqualified for something that wasn’t even their fault. The crowd appeared to be upset, since their invention was a beauty in their eyes. The judge’s point of view was different, and just so absurd. 

It didn’t take a genius for someone to look at Varian and notice that the situation broke his heart. In spite of his hard work, he wasn’t able to win the contest just because his assistant wasn’t resourceful and brisk. He already poured all of his effort into that invention, but because the judge was unfair, the first place wasn’t handed over to him, and on top of that, he and Juliana were disqualified. Murmurs began to spread through the crowd, and Varian didn’t know what to do, standing in front of them all. He clutched his right arm and looked away, completely humiliated.

“What in the world?” Juliana yelled, her façade slowly cracking. “You are disqualifying us for no reason whatsoever?”

“I was impressed at first,” the judge replied. “Then your assistant did something futile. I can’t accept you two infants as the winners.”

“Exactly what are you trying to say, then?” the expression of anger on Juliana’s face shifted into that of worry. “That we are disqualified for good? Is that it?”

“You got that right.”

Then Juliana began to walk to the center of the stage, wearing a face filled with no emotion at all. The way that she was walking could remind everyone of the way a robot would move. Her movement created silence in the entire audience. Even Cassandra and the judge couldn’t find their voices at how peculiar the young girl was acting like. Then she sat down on the ground, and that confused the audience even more. Then, just like a child at the store, Juliana began to bawl. It wasn’t something that you would see from a pre-teen.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!” Juliana screeched. “Everyone treats us like trash! Waaaaaaaahhhhh!”

The judge was stunned. That is not how a teenage girl would react, unless she was a late bloomer…

Varian’s cheeks turned pink in embarrassment. Juliana was sobbing in front of the audience in an attempt to gain their sympathy and admiration. It was obvious to him that those were, once again, just her crocodile tears. She wasn’t really crying on the inside. In her perspective, crying meant that people would pity her and therefore stand up for her. Eugene groaned when he saw that. It reminded him of how she used those crocodile tears to get Varian, Cassandra, and Rapunzel to nourish her. Deep inside, Juliana was smirking like crazy, believing that her fake tears were her weapon.

“Waaaaaahhhhh!” Juliana continued. “This is too much for me!”

“I know that the rules are supposed to be strict,” Cassandra said to the judge. “But aren’t you going to adjust for this girl? She’s clearly hurt by your decisions.”

“She shouldn’t have entered this contest if she couldn’t take it,” the judge replied coldly. “At her age, she needs to know that.”

“You would think that because your head is filled with foolishness!” Juliana shouted in a childish manner, tears still running down her cheeks. “You don’t even remember how it felt like to be a child, do you?! Varian and I are just kids! We deserve adjustments!”

Suddenly, Eugene yelled out from the crowd. “Varian could make that invention by himself! So he’s okay!”

“W-What are you saying, Mr. Eugene?!” Juliana sputtered. “Are you implying that I’m the only one who’s an outcast here?!”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Juliana’s sobs increased. “I don’t like being treated like thiiis! Waaaahh!”

Rapunzel, completely convinced by Juliana’s fabricated behavior, quickly dashed up to the top of the stage. Eugene made attempts to stop her, but nothing could take away the kindness in her heart. She knelt down in front of Juliana, and pulled her into her embrace.

“I-It will be fine!” Rapunzel cooed. “There are a lot of people who appreciate you. Like us! We won’t treat you so horribly, okay?”

“PunziePunzie!” Juliana howled. “Everybody is so mean and picking on me! Waaaaaaaahhh!”

The fact that Juliana had a baby face made it hard for everyone to verify her as a teenager. At first glance, you would think that she was around nine. Juliana always manages to use this to her advantage. No one was to mess with her since she was just a child. Anyone who would do so commits a terrible crime.

“I’m sure that you and Varian will win next time!” Rapunzel continued. “So cheer up, please!”

“S-She’s right, Juli,” Varian finally knelt down, and stroked his mischievous friend’s head. “There’s really no need for you to cry this much…”

Juliana looked up at Varian, pouting. Because both he and Rapunzel were embracing her, the face that she made wasn’t clear to the audience’s eyes. She was pouting her lips as though her plan wasn’t working. It was her plan to make the crowd feel sympathy for her and therefore throw eggs and tomatoes at the judge for making a child cry on stage. 

“I’m going to get my revenge,” Juliana declared silently. “Our victory will be avenged, Varian!”

“It’s not necessary…” Varian added.

The sadness in Varian’s voice made Juliana’s heart ache. Usually, he would be laughing alongside her. However, what happened recently made that change for the moment. He was so hurt from being disqualified that the energy he had earlier in the day was taken away from him. She saw that sorrow in his eyes. That only strengthened her desire to take her revenge. Then, Juliana smirked. The idea that popped up in her head was a spicy one. 

Sure enough, Juliana kept true to her word. A scream erupted from the young woman’s throat when her invention exploded into pieces… in front of the entire crowd. Even though the audience was impressed by her actions at first, the explosion left them disappointed. That explosion almost caused the judge to be burnt alive, and it was easy to say that it was more deadly than the knife incident earlier. Juliana was secretly snickering this entire time, and Varian was looking at her awkwardly. At this rate, no one was going to win the contest. The woman had landed on the ground, and the judge would’ve fallen off the stage if Cassandra didn’t catch him.

“My, my!” Juliana snickered. “Another deadly disaster! This time, caused by the inventor herself~! Heeeey, didn’t anyone realize that our invention is the only one that didn’t blow up into pieces?”

“Your assistant was still clumsy and almost killed me!” the judge argued, getting up.

“At least, it wasn’t us who almost got you slaughtered. What can you say about the other two? For us, it was simply our assistant, who we didn’t even request for, by the way. For the others, it was the invention itself! Now, tell me, which of the three inventions are the deadly ones~?”

The woman got up in distress, brushing the dust off of her clothes. Juliana was trying so hard not to laugh out loud in the middle of everyone. The explosion, unlike with what happened with Rapunzel and Eugene, almost caused a horde of flames to be sent through the entire region. Just a little more, and the entire place would’ve been nothing more than a sea of fire. Thankfully, Juliana wasn’t facing against a deadly enemy. If she was, then who knows what the aftermath would be? It was her intention to frame the woman, and convince the people of Corona that she was attempting to murder them all. 

“I don’t believe it!” the woman exclaimed. “That was perfectly functional a moment ago!”

“You could’ve gotten us all killed!” Feldspar yelled from the crowd. “Or is that actually what you intended to do?!”

“No, no! I swear it wasn’t! It was just an accident!”

A smile crept up on Juliana’s face when they began throwing tomatoes at her. The juice inside of the ripe fruits exploded as soon as they landed on her, staining her entire body with red. 

The citizens were furious at the fact that the woman’s invention almost killed them. Out of fury, they threw the chocolates (wrapped in plastic) that she had given to them onto the ground. With rage as their weapon, they stomped on the plastic-covered chocolates, leaving only a pile of brown fragments. However, instead of the sweet aroma that they were all expecting, a disgusting smell fluttered through the breeze. It smelled as though someone had just farted. Each person began questioning what it was that caused such foul odor. Then, they looked at their shoes, and realized where it came from.

A number of voices echoed from the crowd. 

“That wasn’t chocolate! That was dog poop!” 

“You tricked us into believing that it was chocolate!”

“You’re trying to get us to eat dog poop?!”

“You disgusting, vile woman!”

Varian was confused, as he was sure that the chocolate the woman had thrown at him earlier truly was the sweet dessert everyone expected it to be. That was when he noticed that Juliana was holding a basket… filled with the same mahogany-colored snacks. She had stolen everyone’s chocolates, and replaced them with dog poop to frame the woman.

The woman was starting to panic. Endless beads of sweat were running down her skin as she stared at the absolutely furious crowd in front of her. Now everyone was protesting out of wrath. They believed that it was this woman who was responsible for making them eat dog poop, not to mention that their shoes became stained with the same muck. Juliana was always the type of person who would do anything in her power to win, even if it meant cheating. Since no one saw the pout that she made earlier, no one was able to suspect her of being the culprit. 

“That wasn’t supposed to be dog poop!” the woman shrieked. “Please believe me!”

“And why must we?” an old lady howled. “You could’ve poisoned us!”

The woman suddenly saw Juliana, and furiously shouted at her. “You! You messed with my creations, didn’t you?!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Juliana yelled, offended. “Why would I mess with such a stupid and pathetic thing? If I was going to mess with something, it’d be something that is actually spectacular. You have my sympathy, though.”

Varian didn’t really agree with Juliana’s actions, but he didn’t stop her from performing them, either.

Suddenly, the woman approached the judge in a seductive manner. It was something that Varian could understand, yet Juliana couldn’t. A flirty expression was imprinted on her face as she catwalked towards him. The way she walked silenced even the audience. Then, without anyone expecting it, she laid her hands on his shoulder, and leaned over as though she was about to kiss him. Even the judge became quiet. She let go of one of his shoulders and played with his tie with the use of her fingers. Then, the judge’s face went pink as the woman started to speak.

“They’re treating me horribly,” the woman moaned. “Please, give me a chance.”

“Oh,” the judge responded. “That I will.”

“What? What?” Juliana looked around, lost in a daze. “What is going on?”

“Psst,” Cassandra whistled at her. “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

“Hm? . . . Ah—!”

Even as Cassandra explained it to her, Juliana just couldn’t understand.

“It looks as though we have a winner!” the judge suddenly declared out of nowhere, then he pulled a blue badge that said “1st” and placed it on the woman’s chest.

Varian’s frown was even clearer now. The flame inside Juliana only got stronger.

The audience didn’t even notice that she was no longer standing in the center of the stage. They only noticed when the light around them suddenly faded. Even though the sun was shining in the clear blue sky, the place was covered in darkness as though rain was about to pour down. However, it wasn’t the clouds that kept them covered from the radiance. It was similar to a transparent umbrella, but much, much bigger to the point where it covered the entire crowd. On top of that, there were also barricades blocking the exit, so no one could escape from the area. Then, they heard a young girl’s voice echo in the air.

“Nobody move!” it was Juliana, speaking with such a threatening tone. “Move one inch and you’ll come face-to-face with the deadliest traps you’ll ever encounter in your life! Such traps include a flammable chemical, a sea of poisonous acid, and lumber that can break your bones!”

“Ju-Juliana?!” Cassandra gasped, absolutely surprised at the sudden change in Juliana’s demeanor. “What’s the meaning of this?!”

“Ahahahahaha!!” Juliana suddenly revealed herself to everyone. She was standing on the roof of the stage, above where everyone else was, above where all the curtains were. “Now you will experience the bitter taste of Juliana’s sweet revenge! Ahahahaha!”

Who knew that a young child knew how to be so terrifying? Fearful, everyone followed Juliana’s orders. Except for Varian, as he already knew where her traps were, as well as the location of the safe spots. None of them moved an inch, anxious about what was going to happen to them if they were in the slightest bit of motion. Were the traps really as deadly as Juliana said they were? Based on the way she was laughing, they most likely were.

“Whoa, calm down, everybody!” Rapunzel exclaimed. “Juliana is a good girl! There’s no need for any of you to panic! …Kya?!”

Just one movement from Rapunzel, and she got herself stuck inside of a very tight piece of cloth. All she did was move her foot to one side. Juliana, who was still standing on the top of the stage, looked at the people below her with a smirk. 

“Oh, goodness,” she said in a sarcastic tune. “I already warned you not to move, didn’t I~?”

“Rapunzel!” Cassandra shouted. “Are you okay?! Hey, Juliana, you didn’t have to go this far…”

“Ahahahaha!” Juliana laughed again. “The grudge of someone who didn’t get their rightfully deserved award is a terrible one!”

“She had already set all of these traps set beforehand,” Varian explained to Cassandra. “She sets traps everywhere she goes.”

“The grudge of someone who didn’t get their rightfully deserved award, huh?” Cassandra responded. “Darn, how did she have the time to set all of these?!”

“Varian is right!” Juliana added. “I set traps everywhere I go, and there are no exceptions! Not even the castle! Ahahahahaha!”

Even though Rapunzel told everyone not to panic, they panicked anyway, thus getting a handful of Juliana’s deadly traps. The only exception was Varian, who stood in one place the entire time.

Varian couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, they’re lucky they didn’t get into your deadly ones.”

“Ahahahahaha!” Juliana laughed, jumping from the top of the stage and landed on her feet, standing right next to where he was. “They sure are.”


	5. A Bit of Kindness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaaahhhh, not one part of this chapter is original at all! D: 
> 
> I actually based it off of a scene from Higurashi When They Cry by Ryukishi07. Not even an ounce of this part is original, so don't credit me on this one, please.

Eugene was busy preparing yet again another surprise for Rapunzel. He was planning a massive feast for her, one that neither of them were going to forget . . . ever. Unfortunately for him, the chefs were always busy whenever he needed them, and those two kids (Varian and Juliana) hadn’t visited the castle in a while. Actually, maybe he should be grateful that Juliana wasn’t around to begin with. Varian, he would be satisfied with, but Juliana would probably set a mouthful of pranks on the food he prepared. He just couldn’t bring it in himself to think that Juliana would be a sweet, innocent little girl. 

While he was cooking, a huge body of flame emerged from the pot. A smile formed on Eugene’s lips, believing that it was his path to becoming a master chef. Of course, that was until the tips of the fire hit the ceiling on top of it, tincturing it with a deep, charcoal black color. The dumbfounding odor of the flame floated in the kitchen, accompanied by thin layers of smoke. Eugene started to lose himself in a frenzy upon realizing that he was about to set the castle on fire! 

“G-Gyaaaaaaaaahhhh!” shouted the voice of a young girl. “What in the world do you think you’re doing?! Stop the flames this instant!”

Before Eugene could think twice, he felt a force striking the back of his head. He turned around to see who just did that, and to his surprise, standing there were Varian and Juliana. Varian was wearing an expression filled with worry, and Juliana’s was filled with surprise and anger as though she was about to give him a good scolding. Varian couldn’t have been the one responsible for the hitting of his head, so it was most likely Juliana. 

“Eh?!” Eugene gasped. “Juliana? Varian?”

As he stood there dazed by their unexpected and sudden appearance, Juliana shoved him out of the way and turned off the gas. Then, Varian got a towel. He soaked it in water with the use of the faucet, spread it out, and placed it over the pot. He continued to soak more towels, adding more than two. As soon as a number of towels were piled on the pot, the fire finally came to a halt, leaving only a few traces of smoke. All of that happened in just a few moments, leaving Eugene stunned. The three of them gasped for air, knowing that they barely escaped the flames. 

“W-What are you two doing here?!” asked Eugene, startled. “Did you two trespass or something?! Considering Juliana here, she probably broke in!”

“Don’t accuse me of that,” Juliana pouted. “If you do, I can accuse you of attempting to burn down the castle! Your cooking was just about to turn into a gigantic fire, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, in case you didn’t know, you could’ve seriously injured a whole bunch of people and leave them homeless,” Varian added to Juliana’s statement. “Of course, that includes you.”

“Ugh . . .” Eugene groaned. “So, that really was about to set the whole castle on fire?”

“Isn’t it obvious?!” Juliana shouted. “Look at it with your own eyes! The ceiling is so close to becoming soot, don’t you think?! The only things that should be filled with soot are chimneys!”

Juliana’s face was obviously telling Eugene that she was infuriated with him. At least they were able to save his life . . .

According to them both, Eugene had become so obsessed with his treacherous cooking that he wasn’t able to hear them call out his name. However, they could still tell that he was in the kitchen, so they decided to check. Even though Eugene didn’t say it, he was glad that they did. 

“You know, if Juli and I hadn’t come today,” Varian said. “Everyone would’ve been roasted chicken by now.”

“Mr. Eugene,” Juliana began. “Do you now understand how serious this situation was?”

At some point, Eugene sat down on his knees, patiently listening to the lecture of two pre-teens.

“Urk,” Eugene groaned. “I-I’m sorry. The both of you saved my life. I deeply apologize!”

“We thought of coming to see what kind of fabulous dinner you made!” Juliana shouted. “But just as I expected, it’s a mess! At this rate, I shouldn’t even expect anything from you!”

“You’ve got quite a tongue, missy!” Eugene shouted. “So, let me get this straight, you and Varian came all the way here from Old Corona just to see what I prepared for the surprise?!"

“Us being mean was able to save your life and the castle,” she pouted, as though disappointed in his response. “I expected you to be at least a bit grateful.”

“Hnn,” Eugene slumped his shoulders in defeat. “Fine! I’m sorry, Juliana . . .”

At this point, there was no point in faking how strong he could be when he showed them such a disaster. The only option left was to surrender. 

“Despite all of this, you still did your best during the expositions the other day,” Juliana added. “Where did the Mr. Eugene from that time disappear to? Sheesh!”

“I—!” Eugene tried to protest, but he failed. “Well, that’s because Rapunzel did all the work! All I did was assist her. I didn’t do anything other than that . . .”

“Mr. Eugene! “ Juliana exclaimed. “And you have the nerve to accuse me of being weak! I mean, you might have been doing the typical ‘Mr. Eugene’ stuff, but that is so hypocritical of you!”

Making the inventions of other contestants’ explode into pieces seemed far more terrible to Eugene, but Juliana was already in control of the situation, so there was no way he could respond. All he could do was hang his head in front of her.

“By the way, Mr. Eugene,” Juliana began. “This terrible pot of yours. This isn’t supposed to be chicken corn soup, is it?”

Juliana was staring at the pot filled with the failed attempt of chicken corn soup, with a face brimming with disgust. So he really did get the amount wrong. Judging by the look imprinted on Juliana’s face, whatever it was that was implanted in the pot couldn’t even be known as chicken corn soup anymore. 

“Forget the chicken corn soup already!” Eugene screamed. “I was able to cook the beef just fine, right?! Just look at it, and tell me what mistake I have made! It should be 97% done by now!”

“Eugene, it’s not even cooked yet,” Varian stated. “I still see some red spots.”

“What are you talking about?!” Eugene exclaimed. “I switched it on, and the little light came on!”

Electric stoves weren’t supposed to exist at the time yet. However, thanks to Varian’s invention, he was able to develop one.

“Mr. Eugene,” Juliana sighed in disappointment. “The button that you pushed was the timer button. It’s set for breakfast, so it won’t even turn on until tomorrow in the morning.”

“A-Are you kidding me?!” Eugene shouted. “Does this mean that . . . all this time, I haven’t even cooked anything yet?!”

“Ahahahahaha!” Juliana laughed. “It serves you just right! So? Have you finally known your place? Now! Confess! Say it! ‘I—Eugene Fitzherbert—am a pathetic man who is no match for the majestic little girl known as Juliana’!”

“Alright, fine, I admit it!” Eugene shouted. “I am much worse than Juliana! I desperately beg for your forgiveness!”

Eugene kept his arms crossed in front of him. Satisfied with the sight in front of him, Varian approached Eugene and hit his shoulder in a friendly manner. On the other hand, Juliana loudly laughed in triumph. 

It didn’t take a genius to know that Eugene had completely lost. Even though he talked big in the beginning, he didn’t even know how to make a dish by himself. At this rate, Eugene wouldn’t be able to surprise his sunshine. Despite his attempts, it seemed like he just couldn’t do it. 

“I couldn’t surprise her,” Eugene frowned.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be okay,” Varian assured him. “Surprise or no surprise, Rapunzel will continue loving you for sure!”

“Of course, that means Cassandra is going to belittle me again!”

“Cassie is a good person, so I think she’ll be at least a bit easy on you.”

“And then everyone in the kingdom would laugh at me!”

“Yeah, that . . . I don’t think it’s too far from the truth.”

Could the smile that was on Varian’s face get any bigger? Eugene didn’t think otherwise while the young alchemist was offering him words of comfort. Juliana seemed to be unconditionally sickened with how pathetic Eugene—the one who saved the lost princess—looked, and she discharged a heavy sigh.

“For a grown man, you sure are pathetic, don’t you think?” she grumbled. “Come on now! May you please move yourself out of the way?”

As Eugene continued to whine about his failure, Juliana—while wearing an expression of displeasure—brushed him aside and dumped all the feeble remains of the failed chicken corn soup into the sink. She began to clean the pot directly after.

“You don’t need to worry about that, Juliana,” Eugene approached her. “Don’t underestimate me! I can clean up my own mess!”

He refused to have a child clean up everything that he made a mess out of. However, when he tried to stop Juliana, he felt Varian’s hands pulling on his shirt.

“Eugene,” the boy said. “It’s best to just stay silent and watch.”

A smile was on Varian’s lips when he said those words. 

“Stay silent and watch?!” Eugene exclaimed. “What are you trying to say, kid?”

“He meant what he meant,” Juliana proclaimed. “Mr. Eugene, you should just keep your mouth shut and leave this to me.”

She was cleaning the pot while she said that, so she had to turn her head around to tell that to Eugene. Judging by the look on her face, it had bothered her. It was as if she was saying that an amateur like him should stay away from a professional like her. The annoyed expression that she was wearing gave Eugene a little fright. 

“Leave what to you?” Eugene questioned her.

Instead of answering his question, Juliana turned towards the sink again. As soon as she was finished, she began to rifle through the pots and the refrigerator. 

“Hey, you’re not supposed to mess with those stuff!” Eugene asserted. “If you mess up, the castle would be disarranged!”

“Can you just keep your mouth shut already?” Juliana hollered. “People like you aren’t supposed to be in the kitchen in the first place! Hey, Varian!”

“Aye aye, sir!” Varian declared.

When Juliana snapped her fingers, Varian grabbed Eugene from the back of his collar and began to drag him away. He dragged Eugene back into the dining room, where there were barely any people around. 

“Hey, kid, stop that!” Eugene exclaimed. “Let go of me! Leaving the kitchen to Juliana would create an absolute catastrophe!”

“Uh . . . Juli came to see how pathetic you are today, at least those were her words,” Varian responded. “She claimed that it was a part of her revenge for what happened the other day.”

“R-Revenge?! She’s still not over it?! Now that I think about it, she seemed kind of grouchy . . .”

Eugene was able to hear the sound of a faucet being twisted and a stove being turned on erupting from the kitchen. He suddenly remembered those sounds from the orphanage; the sound of the refrigerator opening and closing, as well as the sound of vegetables being chopped up. Did that mean that Juliana was cooking? 

“To be fair, you have been making fun of her quite a lot recently,” Varian stated. “Juli wanted to prove to you just how superior she was.”

“Now that I think about it,” Eugene started. “I don’t hear the sounds of explosions or bursting.”

At this point, Juliana had successfully proven to Eugene how superior she was compared to him in terms of cooking. If there was a cooking showdown between them both, the one who earned the award was already decided from the beginning. He then recalled the slightly annoyed face that Juliana had before. 

“I have been making fun of her too much, haven’t I?” Eugene sighed. “Do you think she’s holding a grudge?”

He believed that they were just having their typical sibling-like arguments, but he also believed that there was a chance that he overdid it. At the very least, perhaps he shouldn’t have made fun of Juliana when she could at least cook her own meals. 

“Believe me,” Varian replied. “If Juli is ever holding a grudge against you right now, it isn’t all too big.”

“But she came all the way to the castle and even pushed her way in!” Eugene argued. “I think she’s mad . . .”

Stubbornly, Eugene walked over the kitchen and took a small peek. Juliana definitely looked different from her usual self. Her eyes were as sharp as a knife’s edge, not to mention how brisk her movements were. It was all a bit too scary. She seemed to have noticed Eugene, as she suddenly turned around and gave him a glare filled with annoyance. Cringing in fear, Eugene hastily put his head back out.

“Okay, she’s definitely mad!” Eugene yelled. “She’s 100% mad! Ahh, how will her revenge plan turn out?!”

“Oh, don’t worry, Eugene,” Varian said to him. “Juli’s just being serious because she doesn’t want to fail. There’s no way she’s angry right now.”

“How can you say that she isn’t mad at all?! I’ve never seen a child look so frightening before!”

“Hey, Mr. Eugene!” Juliana shouted. “I can hear you, you know?!”

“I apologize!” Eugene shouted. 

He flinched at Juliana’s sudden outburst, facing towards the kitchen. He felt exactly like a kid who had done naughty things and got called by their parents with the use of his full name. 

“Where do you guys keep the chicken here?!” Juliana uttered. “The refrigerator is so big that I don’t see any of it anywhere!”

“Sorry,” Eugene apologized. “The chicken is . . . it’s on the middle shelf in the fridge, at the back left of the lower rack.”

“Hey, what is this?! You need to close the chicken package after you’re done with it! You don’t want the chicken to be frozen inside, do you?!”

“Sorry.”

Before he could look for something to take it off with, Juliana pulled it off while also making sure that bits of it wouldn’t be stuck inside. 

“I swear. How come you are so bad at cleaning after yourself?” Juliana sighed. “I can’t even imagine how it’ll be when you’re married already!”

He found no way to be able to talk back to Juliana at the moment. The only thing he could do was to lower his head in apology. As she belittled him while he continued to apologize, a good smell suddenly began to fill the kitchen. 

“See?” Juliana said to him. “This is how you prepare the chicken for the soup! You’re supposed to chop it up first! It’s important to add a little at a time and keep tasting it. Dumping the entire thing into the pot is absolutely outrageous!”

“I’m sorry already!” Eugene exclaimed. “This was one of the first few times I tried!”

“How pathetic! Gosh! People like you! Tsk.”

He cowered as Juliana started to grumble with discontent. However, the more he looked at her, the better she cooked. She just refused to show it too much. If she had, she would’ve won an award. 

“Hey!” she said to him, finally smiling. “Don’t waste your time just standing there! You can help set the table, you know? If you want it to be a surprise, make sure that you make it as luxurious as you possibly can!”

“On it!”

Eugene hastily seized numerous plates and glasses from the cabinets around him, then proceeded to rush towards the dining room whilst carefully making sure that none of them would fall off.

As soon as he returned, it was clear to his eyes that Varian was patiently waiting for him. Instead of being bored, he seemed to be more relaxed. When he noticed how much struggle Eugene was facing while carrying the dishes, he got up from the table and rushed to his aid. 

“The surprise will be coming soon!” Varian declared cheerfully. “A surprise made by the one and only Eugene Fitzherbert! I bet that the princess will be absolutely thrilled to see what you’ve prepared for her!”

“You seem to be in a good mood, kid,” Eugene said. “Quite a difference from Juliana’s, if you ask me.”

“Oh, no, no. Juli isn’t in a bad mood at all. In fact, that’s actually the happiest I’ve seen of her in a while.”

“What? Happiest? With that face?!”

“I can compare it to how she was when her parents were still with her. It really has been a long time since I last saw Juli having so much fun.”

“Wait. Her parents? Now that you mention it, she’s never really mentioned them before.”

Varian gave him a slight chuckle, but it was one that was doused with melancholy. “You know, when Juli was still with her parents, she was always happy, like she is right now. It’s been a while since I last saw her this way.”

No matter how many times Eugene took a glimpse at the prankster, her mood seemed downright terrible. Despite this, her good friend—Varian—was telling him the exact opposite of his thoughts. 

“Hey,” Eugene commented gently. “Are you sure she’s enjoying herself?”

“She seems to be remembering the time she spent with her parents,” Varian responded. “It’s a nostalgic feeling for her.”

“Nostalgic? Huh. Are you saying that her parents live far away from her?”

Maybe her parents had some important duties to run, and couldn’t take care of her anymore? They must’ve left her to Varian’s family so that she could be raised properly. 

“Juliana seems like she got along with her parents well.” Eugene stated.

“She definitely did,” Varian smiled. “All three of them got along very well.”

Varian started to spread his arms wide in order to demonstrate the width of how Juliana and her parents got along. 

According to him, Juliana’s father was quite a docile one, and she had to support him through her constant nagging. Meanwhile, her good-natured mother spoiled her as much as she could. That was the relationship between the three of them. Such applied to the current situation that they were in. There was Eugene, who was unreliable and couldn’t even cook well. Then there was Varian, the one who continued to spoil Juliana regardless of what happens. Finally, there was Juliana, who was indulging herself in her spoiler’s presence and scolding the one who was irresponsible to her eyes. Was it possible that Juliana was getting a glimpse of her family—who now lived far away—through the situation she was in? 

“So while she was under the care of her mother, she continued to nitpick whatever her father did,” Eugene said. “Even so, she loved them both equally, and they all got along well.”

“Yup!” Varian replied. “In fact, she was actually the one who suggested we’d come to the castle here today.”

It seemed like she heard that Eugene was preparing a surprise, and concluded that there was no way the unreliable him could possibly plan it out by himself. From that, she decided that they should come and make it for him. 

“So . . .” Eugene started. “Does that mean that she didn’t come here to take her revenge?”

“She apparently can’t bring it in herself to leave you alone,” Varian chuckled. “Even after years, she’s still the same young girl I knew before.”

Because Eugene grew up in an orphanage, he didn’t know how it felt to have a family. Of course, he never had loving parents like Juliana did. However, at the moment . . . he felt as though he was an older brother of hers, who was helplessly forced to be obedient while being looked after by her. That excluded any teasing or messing around. It was a necessity for him to give thanks to Juliana’s troublesome attitude. That was what was carved on his mind. 

“Mr. Eugene!” Juliana shouted from the kitchen. “Do you know where on Earth the ladle is?!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Eugene stated. “The ladle should be in the drawer to your right!”

After saying that, he dashed out into the kitchen and opened the drawer, then he handed over the ladle inside to Juliana. 

“There! It’s all done!” Juliana smiled warmly. “Have you prepared the table yet?”

“Why, of course. You can rely on me.”

“Then we must get the princess and her handmaiden here. Let us have our meal. Variaan! It’s time for lunch!”

“Got it!” Eugene heard the happy alchemist’s joyous voice echo from the dining room.

Smiling brightly, Juliana turned off the gas flame on the stove and lifted up the pot of soup. Then, she turned towards Eugene and spoke up.

“Can you bring the beef, Mr. Eugene? Be careful not to flip it over, all right?!”

“Yeah, right . . .” Eugene said. “I’ll be careful.”

In his mind, Eugene was blubbering about how he could carry the beef without being warned about it. Even though he could reply like that, he decided that it was not the best option.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, so now we get to a bit of Juliana's backstory!


	6. Food Wars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, nothing original! It's based off of Higurashi again.
> 
> Things get serious in the next chapter, though...

“Surpriiiiiiiiiiise!”

Rapunzel’s eyes widened when she saw the spectacle happening before her. A stack of food was prepared on the table. Eugene, Varian, and Juliana were standing in front of her while spreading their arms wide. This was no ordinary lunch time. It was lunch that was specifically made for her by her closest friends. Cassandra, too, was standing there stunned. Lance, on the other hand, was squealing in excitement. They came down to the dining room, expecting the typical lunch time that they always had, only to be greeted by a spectacular surprise. Rapunzel covered her mouth with both of her hands, clearly haven’t expected such an event to take place.

“Eugene!” Rapunzel exclaimed. “Did you prepare all of this yourself?!”

“Oh, yes. With the help of two children, I was able to create this terrific miracle for my dearest sunshine,” Eugene responded. “I sure hope that our efforts aren’t put to waste.”

“Are you kidding me?! That is amazing, Eugene! Ah, with the beef and the chicken corn soup! I truly do appreciate it!”

“Yeaaaaaaaah, well . . .” Eugene scratched the back of his head awkwardly, trying to find the right words to say. “Actually, it was Juliana who cooked all of that . . .”

“W-What?!” Juliana jumped out of her skin. She didn’t really expect the truth to fly out of Eugene’s mouth.

“Really? That is awesome, Juliana!” Rapunzel complimented her. “You never told me you could cook!”

Juliana’s cheeks turned into a bright red. She pressed her lips together in an attempt to conceal her bashfulness. It was the first time anyone other than Varian had seen her in such a way. The soft smile on her face was clear to the naked eyes. Then she looked up to Eugene and, to prove to everyone that she didn’t become timid over his statement, shouted.

“What were you thinking?!” she yelled. “You finally ‘proved’ to her that you ‘can’ cook! I had no idea that you had such an odd taste for her realizing that you have no talent whatsoever that you’d go so far as to admit the truth!”

“I guess you could say that,” Eugene replied. “And hey, don’t call me talent-less. I have plenty of talents!”

“Like thieving!” Cassandra snickered. “He’s the absolute best at that!”

“In case you didn’t know, Cassandra,” Eugene turned towards her. “Those days are in my past!”

“I swear!” Juliana crossed her arms in front of her. “I think you’re underestimating how impressed a young lady can be! Vari and I are one thing, but humiliation may actually befall you, Mr. Eugene! I hope you’re ready to be seen as a loser for the rest of your life!”

“Okay . . . that sounds a little bit horrible,” Eugene said. “I don’t think I would like that very much . . .”

“Mr. Eugene, make sure that you learn some of these basic skills, okay?” Juliana lectured him. “At this rate, Vari and I will have to keep coming to the castle to check on you! I swear! I can’t believe I have to look after you even though you’re a grown man!”

Eugene already knew that Juliana’s pouty behavior meant that she was in a good mood. So despite her grumpy lectures, a deep urge in Eugene wanted to make him smile.

Juliana actually made more than just beef and chicken corn soup. Those two just stood out the most. Displayed on the table were pieces of pork, bacon, mutton, cheese, bread, potatoes, rice, oatmeal, fish, chicken, corn, beans, vegetables, fruits, and numerous baked goods. Needless to say, she probably made more than what the group could handle.

“Wait, did you fry those vegetables, Juliana?” Eugene asked her. “They look better than I expected.”

“What?!” Juliana was clearly embarrassed by the compliment. “Ahahaha! There’s nothing I can’t do if I put my mind to it, you know!”

“Oh, trust me!” Varian smiled energetically. “The vegetables that she makes are really good! I highly recommend trying them out!”

Julaina felt awkward at the moment, but with Varian by her side, she was able to regain a huge amount of her confidence.

“Anyway, it’s best if we go to the marketplace later,” Eugene suggested. “We kind of used up all the ingredients in the kitchen. Though . . . truth be told, I have no idea what to buy.”

“That seems about right,” Juliana replied. “I feel like your mind is too young to go to the marketplace on your own, Mr. Eugene! It would make me anxious if I wasn’t there at all!”

“Actually, I get anxious too that Juli will end up buying the wrong thing when I’m not around,” Varian teased her.

“V-Variaaan!” Juliana exclaimed.

“Hahahahaha!” Varian chuckled.

According to Varian, Juliana can actually be pretty clumsy despite her mischievous behavior.

“I can’t wait to eat!” Eugene said proudly. “With food made by Juliana herself! I doubt that even the chefs can make fried vegetables as good as you can. The last time I got a taste of it was at the orphanage, so I’m pretty excited to taste your special dish.”

“The last time you ate fried vegetables was at the orphanage?” Juliana smirked. “What a pity. Do not worry anymore, Mr. Eugene. Today’s dishes are so incredibly special!”

Normally, now would be the time where Eugene would start to mess with Juliana, with that sneaky grin of hers. However, instead of following his usual routine, he refused to give her teasing.

“I bet you have made something really great!” Eugene stated. “I’m looking forward to eating it already! Ah, I can smell it now!”

Exceeding the expectations of her new friends, flushes of pink were formed on Juliana’s cheeks. For a second, she began to stammer as though struggling to find the correct words. Juliana thought that Eugene was going to make fun of her, so she was surprised when she heard those words come out of his mouth. Either that, or she stammered because of something else. It was clear to them, though, that no negative feelings were surrounding her.

“Aha!” Juliana smiled again after Varian gently rubbed her head. “I have delivered a special dish for you all! Your excitement is as expected!”

“You know, I underestimated you, Juliana,” Eugene said as they all sat down for lunch. “I admit it. You’re better than me when it comes to cooking.”

“Ahahahaha!” Juliana laughed proudly. “Has your opinion of me changed for the better? I’m not as good as Varian and Mr. Quirin are, but I know that I am a faaaaar better cook than the helpless Mr. Eugene!”

“Alright, alright. I know.”

As Eugene confessed his defeat in his rivalry with Juliana, the girl’s expression softened, and she began to laugh in her prideful voice. Cassandra then stared at Eugene with a smirk, obviously on Juliana’s side this whole time.

“Say, did you know that Eugene actually almost burned down the orphanage when he tried to cook there?” Lance asked her.

“L-Lance!” Eugene exclaimed, embarrassed. “We don’t talk about that!”

“Helpless as always, I see,” Cassandra snickered. “You almost burned the kitchen here in the castle, didn’t you?”

“Ahahahaha!” Juliana laughed again. “Did you expect more?”

Furiously, Eugene grabbed a spoon and scooped up his rice with it, and his eyes widened. “Oh, wow . . . The rice is actually pretty good!”

The chefs made rice from time to time too, so everyone in the castle was used to that taste. Much to their surprise, Juliana’s way of cooking rice made it taste rather different. Perhaps she used a different amount of water. However, they were able to taste Juliana’s effort with the rice she made, and that made it better than usual. The chicken corn soup was a little thick, but that didn’t change the fact that they found it delicious. The other dishes, though it wasn’t as fancy as the chefs made it to be, tasted great as well. The food prepared for the group was so appetizing, and they couldn’t stop eating.

“The other dishes are well done, too,” Rapunzel complimented her. “Juliana, your cooking is amazing!”

Based on her voice, there was not a hint of sarcasm. Juliana seemed to have been expecting at least one bad comment, because when Rapunzel said that to her, the pink blush returned to her cheeks.

“Ahahahahaha!” Juliana laughed like she usually did. “I appreciate your compliments, but my cooking isn’t even that good. Other dishes are just ones that I bought from the store. I just heated them up. I didn’t really cook them myself. The only things I can actually make are rice, beef, fried vegetables, and chicken corn soup.”

Signs of embarrassment were clear on her face when she said those words. The verbal abuse that she usually used as well as her sarcasm were not present at all.

“Though I can’t make anything but those four, the other dishes make it splendid, don’t they?” Juliana asked the group.

“From what I remember, the adults at the orphanage used the same stuff,” Lance confessed. “There’s no need for you to be so embarrassed. I find this lunch time absolutely splendid!”

Lance’s praise was honest. Eugene never met Juliana’s parents before, but he was sure that they would praise her just like her friends would.

“Ahaha,” the prankster giggled. “I guess it’s enough that you people have finally realized my ability to cook. If you would like some more, there’s still some chicken corn soup in the kitchen.”

The brat awkwardly changed the subject out of embarrassment. When her friends realized that their responses were on the mark, they were filled up with happiness. Eugene finally took a bite of her fried vegetables, and anyone could swear that there were stars in his eyes.

“Now that is what I’m talking about!” Eugene laughed. “These are the kind of vegetables I have been expecting! That is just amazing! Absolutely amazing! I could eat an entire pot of this!”

“Told you it’d be good,” Varian said to him.

“Hey, enough with that, Mr. Eugene!” Juliana exclaimed. “You’re spilling food everywhere now! Why are you eating so fast?! The food isn’t going to run away from you, you know!”

“What are you talking about?” Eugene asked her. “It _will_ run away! The flavors start to run as soon as the meal is done. The more time I waste, the more time they have to escape! If you were going to make a mountain of such delicious meals, I take it as my duty to eat up all of it! That is what you call good manners!”

“Okay, I appreciate your feelings!” Juliana gasped. “So just calm down, and enjoy the food while it lasts!”

“Ahahahahaha!” Eugene laughed. “You’re right about that. I apologize.”

He didn’t throw insults at her this time. As soon as he gulped down the pieces of his food, Eugene laughed along with the rest of the group. The others ended up doing most of the eating, while Juliana was barely even taking a bite, as she seemed happy enough to know that they were satisfied with what she created. Whenever they took a bite of her delicious meals, a smile formed on Juliana’s face. That helped them enjoy the food more than they already did.

Despite not eating most of the food, a smile remained on Juliana’s lips. The fact that Juliana was happy strengthened the pleasant mood that was already brimming in the dining room.

They didn’t even notice how fast time passed by. If this was any other day, Eugene would’ve thrown insults at Juliana, and the both of them would eventually succumb to a sibling-like argument. He never thought that he could be in peace by speaking honestly to Juliana out of all people. If he were to be honest, he was glad to have discovered this side of her. The food that he made was made specifically by Juliana. Not even a part of him thought that she placed something there to make his body convulse.

During her declaration for vengeance, Juliana had done more than set traps during the contest. After they battled the storm, more catastrophes followed. One of that included Juliana pouring a chemical substance on the food of people everywhere. That caused each and every one of them to suffer with severe diarrhea. Some of those who she drugged didn’t even have anything to do with what happened during the exposition. According to Varian, that was what was called ‘Juliana’s Pranking Spree’, where she goes on a rampage involving her pranks. Anyone could become a victim. There were barely any exceptions at all. If she was still out for revenge, then Juliana would’ve poured that same chemical on the food that they were eating.

“Oh, man! I think I ate too much!” Eugene groaned. “I need to go take a dump.”

“Mr. Eugene!” Juliana yelled, quite offended. “It’s rude to say such words during a feast!”

“What am I supposed to say, then? That I’m going to the bathroom? To the toilet? Or perhaps take a poop?”

The more Eugene spurted out words, the redder Juliana’s face became. She pouted like a toddler, and pointed her index finger towards where the bathroom was as if to tell him to hurry up. Eugene then realized that his old habits were coming back, but the state that they were in wasn’t at all too bad. There were no weird pranks, and everything was as natural as it could be. Thinking of that, Eugene started to get up from his chair.

“Huh? Ow!”

A thumbtack was stuck to the back of his chair, evidently taped. There was no need to ask anyone who did it.

“JuLIaNaaaAaaAAAAAaa!”

This girl was guilty, even without a trial! Eugene stood up from his seat as fast as he could, and he almost fell onto the ground. It turned out that there was a string of ropes tying both of his feet together.

“That wasn’t bad at all, Juliana!” Eugene exclaimed. “While I was too busy eating, you took the time to hide your presence and set up this luxurious prank of yours!”

Eugene struggled to pull the ropes off of his feet. The young prankster just got him, and he couldn’t believe her. She always took advantage of him whenever he let his guard down. He couldn’t even relax for a minute whenever he was around her. Even so, it was hilarious, and he didn’t feel himself get as angry as he usually would. Swallowing the food in her mouth, Juliana laughed proudly.

“Do you see that?!” she boasted. “I knew you would fall for it eventually!”

“You little . . . ! I let my guard down for one second, and THIS happens?!”

Eugene was about to pick some plastic up and hit Juliana with it, but then he found himself indulging in the laughter that was echoing in the room, and he couldn’t bring it in himself to do it. Instead, he found himself wishing that these moments would last for an eternity.

“Oh, right!” Rapunzel added. “I got Juliana a little something! I’m not sure if she’ll like it or not, but I got the chefs to make it just for her!”

Now that they thought about it, Rapunzel was carrying a small box that looked like it could be used for gifts. Juliana looked at the box excitedly, her eyes sparkling with glee.

“Y . . . You have something for me?” she asked the princess. “Um . . . I don’t know what to say . . .”

Based on the expression on her face, it seemed like Juliana was expecting a box of chocolates to be handed over to her. Such was probably why she was so disappointed when Rapunzel opened up the box.

There were a bunch of bitter gourds inside.

As soon as Juliana saw the food inside the box, the rosy color of her skin turned into a snowy white. When she looked at how many there were inside, she realized that they were about to feed her with it.

“Varian told me that he’s worried about your health since you refuse to eat these things,” Rapunzel explained. “That’s why I got the chefs to make some for you!”

“She likes bitter gourds?” Cassandra asked her sarcastically. “You never told us before! Should we tell your Uncle Quirin about this? How much you love bitter gourds. I bet he will get you all bitter gourds there is in Corona, or even Germany as a whole!”

“Wow!” Eugene snickered. “I am so happy for you, Juliana! You’ll soon become the bitter gourd queen! You can have them for even three meals a day!”

“Waaaaaaaahhhhhhh!” Juliana whined. “Varian, Varian! They’re bullying me!”

“It’ll be fine,” Varian patted Juliana’s head again. “I’ll get rid of them for you someday.”

“Hey, Juliana, don’t you know it’s not nice to be so picky?” Lance questioned her. “Bitter gourds are very nutritious! Since you’re in your pre-teens, these are things you need to think about. As long as we live, you are not to have an unbalanced diet, young lady.”

“Come on, guys!” Rapunzel said to them. “You can have some, too!”

Varian was the one who took one before any of them could. He pushed the bitter gourd into his mouth, and much to Juliana’s surprise, swallowed it without morphing his face his disgust.

“Mm! Juli, it’s actually pretty good!” Varian said to her.

Then Eugene took a bite of it, too. “I agree! It’s quite delicious! The balance of the flavors is perfect! Oh, wait. Perhaps you shouldn’t eat this, Juliana! It’s waaaaay too good for you!”

“E-Excuse me?!” Juliana howled. “I hate the way you’re speaking right now!”

“Come on, just try at least one!” Cassandra pushed her. “Just a bite!”

“You guys seriously don’t need to do such things for me . . .” Juliana sighed, slumping her shoulders.

“Oh, nonsense!” Rapunzel laughed. “I’ve taken it as my duty to make sure that you are as healthy as you possibly can. I take pleasure in knowing that your body is perfectly strong!”

“What kind of pleasure is that? It's humiliating!” Juliana pouted.

“Actually, I am worried myself because of your hatred for bitter gourds,” Varian confessed, smiling at his stubborn friend. “If you ask me, I think you shouldn’t let Rapunzel’s effort go to waste.”

“Well, can’t say he’s wrong,” Cassandra smiled. “She did tell the chefs to make the bitter gourds as delicious as they can just so you can eat them.”

Varian was sitting right next to Juliana, so it wasn’t a challenge for him to grasp the handle of her fork. He inserted that fork onto the bitter gourds that Rapunzel had prepared for her, and then brought it closer to Juliana. When Juliana looked at the food in front of her in disgust, her friend gently stroke her head again, like he always did. There was that one time where she just ran away from eating the bitter gourds, complaining about it’s taste very noisily. She had ran out as fast as she could, yelling “I hate bitter gourds!!” to the point where everyone in the village saw her.

“Here, Juli!” Varian said. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you out, okay? Say ‘ahh’!”

When it was Varian who was helping her out, Juliana just couldn’t resist. “Ahh . . .”

As soon as Juliana opened her mouth, she was able to taste the bitter gourds on her tongue. Desperate to consume them as much as possible to drown out the taste, Juliana chewed despite the fact that her face was morphing in disgust.

“Great job!” Varian complimented her. “That’s the brave Juli I know!”

“See?” Rapunzel asked her. “Isn’t it good?”

“Mmm,” Juliana moaned. “It’s not that bad . . .”

“Thank you, Rapunzel,” Varian said to her. “I’ve been trying as hard as I can to make sure that Juli gets over her hatred of bitter gourds. Now I just need to help her get over her hatred for eggplants, brussel sprouts, and asparagus.”

“How about we make sure that Juliana eats only those for an entire month?” Lance suggested.

“Quit joking around!” Juliana exclaimed. “Or else, I will run away and never return!”

“Oh, come on,” Lance snickered. “You’re still very young, so we—who are older than you—are in charge of your health. If I’m your caretaker, I won’t let you eat any junk food!”

“Waaahh, I hate you, Mr. Lance!” Juliana sobbed. “I hate bitter gourds!”

And that was when Juliana noticed that there was only one piece of bacon left. The plate that the pile of bacons were in was positioned towards Eugene’s side of the table. He was already holding his fork, completely ready to grab that piece of bacon for himself. Then, Juliana grabbed her own fork. If she was going to be forced to eat these bitter gourds, then she might as well grab that last piece by herself. With those thoughts in her head, she leapt towards where the plate of bacon was, trying to steal the last piece for herself.

“I will not let you have that last piece of bacon!” Juliana screeched.

Both Eugene and Juliana’s forks were on the plate now, hitting one another and trying to grab hold of that last piece.

“Ow!” Eugene groaned. “Using your elbow at me is against the rules, Juliana!”

“Hyaaah! Grabbing my collar is against the rules, too!”

Juliana, who was playing dirty in order to grab that bacon, seemed to be having the upper hand. Eventually, after seconds of fighting over the last piece of bacon, Eugene managed to have the upper hand instead, as he had learned skills from his thieving days.

“Noooooooooo!” Juliana screamed. “The last bacooooooooooooon!”

“Hah! I beat you, Juliana!”

Juliana pouted grumpily as Eugene ate the last piece of bacon, shoving it down his throat. Varian patted Juliana’s head, telling her that she might be able to win against Eugene next time. Rapunzel made attempts to try and calm the both of them down, while Cassandra was giving Eugene sarcastic insults in an attempt to have him choke on his food. Meanwhile, Lance continued to tell embarrassing stories about Eugene back when they were still kids.

This was how things usually went between all of them.

If only such happy days could last forever.


	7. Pain of The Mind

“I don’t know why I need to take a shot everyday!” 

“Please, Juli,” Varian pleaded. “I need your help.”

“You have been trying to make that for years! How much longer is this going to take?”

It depended on Juliana’s mental strength.

Varian wasn’t injecting Juliana with the syringe because he wanted to create a brand new element. That was simply what her imagination made her think. In truth, she needed to take at least three shots of that every single day of her life. Otherwise, she will start to hallucinate and have a panic attack. 

The supposedly fearless prankster began to shut her eyes in fear, preparing herself for the needle. Varian couldn’t help but smile. Juliana may be a stubborn child, but at least she knew when it was the right time to be. He wanted to tell her that the time would come where he would eventually stop using that syringe on her, but he couldn’t promise anything. They had been doing the same thing for four years already. One would expect that Juliana got used to it already, but she wasn’t. She didn’t know the real reason why Varian needed to inject her three times a day.

“There we go!” Varian chuckled. “We’re all done!”

He said that as he withdrew the needle from Juliana’s arm. Most likely, it didn’t hurt that much. Juliana was still closing her eyes as much as she could, believing that the needle was still stuck in her arm. It was almost funny how she was still terrified of that thing even though she had been living with it for years already, but whenever Varian thought of the reason behind her illness or even the illness itself, it became dreadful. Her mental state was clearly serious. 

“Um, Juli?” Varian asked her. “I’m finished injecting you for now.”

“What?” Juliana gasped. “Oh . . . you’re done already?”

When Varian finally got Juliana to open her eyes, he sighed in relief. It would be difficult dealing with such a stubborn child, but Varian didn’t have any complaints. He got up from the chair that he was sitting on and headed over to the drawer, where he grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol. If this was four years ago, Juliana would start screaming and fear the alcohol. It seemed like she got used to the alcohol already, but certainly not the syringe. When he began to rub it on her arm, she didn’t recoil.

“Juli, no touching of that arm for a while, alright?” he suggested. “For your sake, no carrying of anything heavy.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Juliana chuckled. “You’ve told me that billions of times.”

“That sounds great. Here ya go.” he placed his palm on her hair again. “A head pat for being a good girl.”

“Hey, that was nothing! I did nothing to earn a head pat from you.”

Just a few years ago, Juliana would start screaming and thrashing around everytime it was time for her to get the shot. The way that she was behaving at the moment was worthy of praise, according to Varian. He was glad to see how much she grew. 

“Alright,” Varian stated. “Now I need to give you the weekly test. No cheating like you usually do, alright?”

“But Variaaaaaan,” Juliana whined. “These tests are always difficult!”

“Relax. You can tell me if you don’t know the answer. You don’t have to think too hard at all. Just tell me what comes to your mind as soon as you see the image.”

In order to ease the prankster’s tension, Varian smiled at her. Then he grabbed a book and took a piece of paper that he hid inside of it, handing it over to Juliana. She looked at the paper, and began observing the drawings imprinted on it.

Both Ruddiger and Siphon hopped on Varian’s shoulders, looking at Juliana. He could sense the both of them saying “I hope Juliana gets better soon”, just by looking at them. He didn’t know if it was due to the temperature, but Juliana had been showing negative symptoms since the previous month. The changing of the seasons could affect her physically, mentally, and emotionally. He wasn’t too surprised to see what was happening to her. Then, the two animals looked over at Varian, as if asking for his permission to observe Juliana while she was taking the test.

Varian nodded at the two of them, saying that he’ll allow them to come near her. The two of them sat on the table that Juliana had placed the paper on (while observing it), looking at her paper. He was sure that the two of them wouldn’t be distractions if all they did was watch while still keeping themselves out of her sight, considering how small they were. Since Varian was just as tall as Juliana, he might be one. 

The test that Varian always prepared for Juliana was made so that he could see whether she was in a state of schizophrenia or not. If she looked at a beautiful picture and instead saw something that she hated, that was a sign that she was suffering from another panic attack. He was a little jealous that both Ruddiger and Siphon could watch without being a bother to Juliana. He chuckled at that thought.

However, Varian was thankful because Juliana appeared to be improving lately. Her results were turning out well. He continuously told himself that there was no need to worry, because the results that came out were good. He figured he would discuss this with her later. 

He most likely overreacted upon seeing the test results the week before. Her condition shifted dramatically thanks to the changing of the weather. There was one night that was abnormally humid, and Juliana was sleeping while her blanket slipped off. To make things worse, her top had folded to the point where her stomach was exposed. Because this kept on happening, Juliana had to wear pants every time she slept, even with her night gown on. It was possible that she earned a cold on that night. It was lucky that Juliana always had to sleep with Varian in his room, since that girl couldn’t even sleep without him. Concerned about his friend, Varian always put a blanket over her whenever her stomach was exposed.

Even though Juliana was recovering, she was still in a severe case of schizophrenia. She was still in a critical condition, and Varian was worried that she would never get better. Just like with anaphylaxis, her body would be conditioned to react severely even after the foreign chemical is out of her system. In other words, it was possible that she could never move out of the current stage of her illness. However, Varian continued to stay positive. He made sure that Juliana could have a proper lifestyle as well as take her medication every day, so that she could control that illness of hers. He hoped that it would be cured someday.

When he looked at her, it seemed like Juliana was enjoying the fact that she was taking her test. She seemed to be having fun, even though she was challenging herself. Varian couldn’t believe that she was suffering from such a severe mental illness. However, many people in the world were suffering from illnesses that were far from curable, such as diabetes. The condition in itself could never be cured, but at least it’s symptoms could be controlled. 

Such diseases were far worse. In fact, Juliana might be in a healthy state compared to many other sick people. Of course, Varian refused to give up on her. He made sure that she’d recover from that disease someday. He made that a promise. As Juliana’s best friend, he was relieved to see her improving. He would do his best so save her life. Without his efforts, Juliana wouldn’t even be here today. 

Ruddiger then hopped onto Varian’s shoulder again, while Siphon continued to watch Juliana.

“Hey, buddy,” he whispered with a smile. “How’s Juli doing?”

The raccoon pointed over to the paper, where Juliana was struggling with Spot the Difference. This happened to her all the time. It seemed like Ruddiger and Siphon found more differences than she did.

“Nice to see how you two found answers,” Varian stated, still whispering. “What about Juli?”

None of the two animals could do anything to answer him. He thought that the both of them were there to check on Juliana, but they were taking the quiz alongside her instead. That was so typical of them. They treated the quiz like a game, even though Juliana was exhausted after taking the same test every week. She seemed to be sleepy, especially because she woke up so early.

In this case, the quiz wasn’t about a right or wrong answer. It was about timing, in minutes, how long it took for her to answer the question, and observing how she acted during the quiz. Not all of the questions were simple ones, so Juliana often got headaches. 

“Is she almost done?” Varian asked Ruddiger.

The raccoon nodded. 

Juliana was looking at a picture on the paper, which looked like a simple ink stain. Varian continued to look at her, as she grasped her quill, thinking of her answer. She was supposed to answer what she thought the picture was. 

Juliana scratched her head with a troubled expression on her face, thinking of what she should answer. Varian observed her, taking notes while she struggled. He was also timing how long it took for her to answer, as he kept looking at the clock. It was a test to understand Juliana’s mind. Anyone could assume what the image on the paper was, whether it was melted ice cream or a puddle. 

Juliana was nowhere near good whenever it came to this test. She always took a long time to answer such questions. Finally, she began writing on the paper.  
‘Two butterflies that are on top of each other’

Then, as always, she began to describe it. Varian continued to take notes as he investigated his friend.

‘They were apart for quite some time,’ Juliana wrote. ‘Reunited, they’re happy to see each other again.’ 

Juliana chuckled. She didn’t even know what she was doing. In Varian’s perspective, she was doing just fine. All she needed to do was to write whatever came to her mind. That was the purpose of the test. Juliana handed over the paper to Varian, and he looked at it with a smile.

“Are you sure that my absurd answers are alright?” Juliana asked him.

“Oh, of course,” the alchemist replied. “For this picture, you gave me a completely different answer last year. I can tell how much you’ve changed just by reading what you have written here.”

“Really . . . I’m not really fond of this test,” she sighed, then she smiled. “What did I even answer last year?”

Varian refused to answer that question of hers, instead shaking his head. His heart broke when he remembered the answer that she gave to him the year before. He didn’t even want to think of it.

For years, Juliana continued to be in a state of panic after witnessing a traumatizing scene. Knowing that, Varian wished he never knew what Juliana’s answer was. A year after that, the depressed Juliana was no more. She became so strong. Varian knew how difficult it was for her to stay as tough as she currently was. Her growth over the past year was overwhelming to him. 

“My goodness,” Juliana sighed. “I’m used to these tests already, but they never fail to tire me!”

“Do you not like taking the tests?” Varian asked her.

“Honestly . . . I don’t, but they are my job. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Juliana supported Varian no matter what he did. She believed that the tests were made not because she was mentally ill, but because Varian wanted to create something new. Helping Varian out with his invention was what Juliana thought she was doing. She wasn’t even aware of the fact that she was sick. 

“You’re handling it a lot better than you were before,” Varian said. “We were finished pretty quickly today.”

“Ahahahahaha!” Juliana laughed. “I did my best so that it would be over fast. You said we were going to create a special creation today, so I needed to finish it quick!”  
“Oh! No wonder why you were so obedient with the test today. It was because you were looking forward to it. I apologize for the wait. Ah, yes, since you’re doing better now, you only need to take two shots per day. I’ll give you a shot before lunch and before you go to bed. I’ll change the needle every time. I will never use the same one twice.”

“Yeah, yeah. Same as usual, I know~!”

Juliana really couldn’t wait for the invention they were making afterwards. It made Varian really happy to see her as excited as she was. 

She only needed to take two shots per day now after years of taking three. Varian was glad. The number of shots she had to take everyday represented how well she was doing. Therefore, it was a good thing that she had to take fewer shots. Since it was tough for Juliana to give herself the shots, Varian had to do it for her.

“Excellent job, Juli,” Varian complimented her. “You seemed anxious during the test today. Come on. Let’s get to our work.”

“I’m sorry I was so tense,” Juliana apologized. “You have my thanks for all that you’ve done for me.”

“Your fourteenth birthday is coming up. Any plans?”

“Um . . . I think I would like some sort of stuffed animal, or something. Ah, yeah! A big one!”

“What sort of stuffed animal?” Varian didn’t tell her that he was saying this so that he could buy her a gift. 

“Mm, I don’t know,” she sighed. “Either a cat, or a bear . . .”

Juliana was fond of stuffed animals. She secretly fangirls whenever she catches the sight of one. Having a friend like Varian was special for Juliana. Even though the rest of the village (except for his father) feared him, Juliana was a different story. There were very few people who would speak to him. 

Varian laughed. “Ahaha! I’ll make sure you’ll have fun!”

“Well, let’s begin!” Juliana cheered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based Juliana off of Satoko Houjou, adding a few differences though (she's also based off Zenitsu from Demon Slayer), so she's very similar to her.


	8. To The Castle

Varian returned to his room in a hurry. Since she couldn’t sleep without him, both he and Juliana shared the same room. He didn’t know what his prankster friend was doing, but based on the scratches on her face, he could easily assume that she and her pet fox got into another childish argument.

Juliana was sitting on the floor, with a grumpy-looking Siphon right next to her. The light scratches all over her face were evident, and there were tears falling out of her eyes. Things like this happened so frequently that Varian was getting used to it already. However, that didn’t mean that he tried to stop their childish wars whenever it took place. Other times, it would get out of hand. Both Juliana and Siphon were as close as siblings. They could get along so well, and then argue like blood enemies for the next minute.

“Waaaaaaaaaahhhh!” Juliana screeched. “Vari, Vari! SiphSiph is being mean to me again!”

“Again?” Varian walked over to his friend and knelt down beside her. “What happened this time?”

“I d-d-don’t know why he got so mad! He just did . . . waaaaaaaaahhh!”

Juliana’s body may mature faster than most girls her age, but unfortunately the same did not go for her mind. She was like a six-year-old trapped in a thirteen-year-old’s body at times. She would cry over the smallest things, whether her tears were fabricated or not. She believed that crying meant that Varian would come and rescue her. Either that or someone would feel pity for her and give her what she wanted. Most of the time, she only shed crocodile tears. Siphon, who had been with his mistress since she was nine, knew that they were fake. Varian didn’t want to think of the times when her cries were real and heartwrenching.

Siphon got furious with Juliana everytime she did something selfish or simply idiotic. Juliana thought before acting most of the time, but it was different whenever her emotions got the better of her. Whenever that happened, her actions would be done without a second thought. This would lead to a very terrible outcome. Her boastful attitude, too, can irritate Siphon quite a lot. The selfish side of her leads to plenty of problems that no one would ever yearn to have. Siphon always scratched at Juliana’s face or bit her hands as a way of saying ‘you freaking idiot!’, as he couldn’t speak to her the way humans could.

Varian got up from the ground, walking to the cabinet and opening it. He pulled out a small bottle filled with transparent liquid. Closing the cabinet, he knelt down beside his crying friend once again. She wasn’t crying as much as she was anymore, instead looking straight at him with tear-filled eyes and quivering lips. Her hands were on her face, trying to wipe away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. The face that she wore was somewhat grumpy, as though she was furious that she lost to Siphon.

“It’s alright, Juli,” Varian commented. “I’ll heal the scratches, okay?”

Not a single word fled from Juliana’s tongue. She just nodded her head as her way of saying yes.

Varian poured small droplets of the chemical from the bottle into his finger, and carressed the scratches on Juliana’s face. Due to his fear of blood as well as the fact that she got injured by her pet fox almost everyday, Varian felt that it was necessary to create a chemical that could heal scratches immediately.

After a while, the scratches on Juliana’s face vanished, as though they were never there to begin with.

“Will there ever be a day where the two of you will get along?” Varian asked her.

“Beats me,” Juliana muttered. “I don’t think I’ll get along with him if he continues being so rude...”

“Ah, by the way, Dad and I are heading over to the castle. You’ll be fine here on your own, right?”

“On my own?” Juliana’s eyes widened. “Are you thinking of leaving me here with that greedy fox of mine?”

Varian just didn’t want Juliana to catch the sight of the black rocks. The last time she did, it took an excessive toll on her already-damaged mental state.

At the same time, he just couldn’t leave Juliana on her own. The girl’s mind was younger than her body. Her stubborn personality will cause her to disobey everyone, no matter who it was. She was persistent, and would do anything to get what she wanted. Perhaps the reason why Siphon scratched her face was because she was making attempts to go outside again, when she wasn’t supposed to because the black rocks served as a trauma button for her. Juliana was the type of person who wouldn’t accept losing, so she was probably planning to use something else on Siphon even if Varian didn’t return in time.

“Alright, you can come,” Varian concluded. “But I’ll be bringing a blindfold, as well as a pair of ear muffs. Wear the blindfold during the ride, and the ear muffs when you’re at the castle, okay?”

“Huh?!” Juliana didn’t seem to be happy about that at all. “Why is that?! Are you hiding something from me, Vari?”

“Juli, just bear with me this time, okay? I know it’s difficult for you, but I will explain to you what is happening once… once you get older.”

“...??? You’re like only one year older than me, though…”

He gently rubbed her head again while wearing a kind smile, and a pink color took over Juliana’s cheeks. She didn’t say a word after that, instead deciding that it would be for the best to just obey Varian. She didn’t want to start a conflict between them (like she always did with plenty of others). Even though Juliana was unbelievably stubborn, she could be obedient when she found it necessary.

Varian chuckled wholeheartedly. She was cute, and that was why he was never bored of her.

During the whole roadtrip, Varian kept looking at Juliana to make sure that he didn’t take off her blindfold. He and Quirin both refused to talk about the black rocks while Juliana was around. Since Quirin was going to talk about them later that day, she needed to wear those ear muffs so that she wouldn’t hear him talking about it. Varian could send her to Eugene, too. The former thief wouldn’t want to be around that mischievous prankster for the time being, but hopefully he could understand. But at the same time, Varian didn’t want Juliana to leave his side.

Varian already told Juliana that she could take off the blindfold once he told her to. By that, he meant that she could take it off once there were no signs of the black rocks anymore. During the whole ride, she kept complaining about how uncomfortable she was with that blindfold. Juliana was mentally ill ever since she was nine years old, and she carried that illness with her up until she turned thirteen. She barely had any memories of what was happening while she was suffering from that illness of hers. That was why, even at the age of thirteen, she acted as though she was nine.

Varian took a look around him, and noticed that there were no longer any black rocks surrounding the area. He hoped that there a random one wouldn’t appear from the ground, and in the worst case scenario, Juliana’s eyes would be looking at that one. For someone like Juliana—who had experienced tremendous trauma because of those black rocks—the situation that they were in was a challenging one. He made sure that she’d never see those black rocks, but it was getting harder. For some reason, the appearance of these rocks were becoming more and more frequent.

“Alright, Juli,” Varian stated. “You can take it off now.”

Juliana didn’t wait for another second before she fiddled with the back of the blindfold, untying it. However, the fact that she was unable to see anything made it difficult for her, and so Varian decided to do it for her instead. He grabbed both ends of the ribbon that kept the blindfold in tact, and pulled them apart. The blindfold came loose, and he grabbed it to his side. Juliana was closing her eyes and opening them again, clearly bothered by the sunlight. After all, she was unable to see anything for quite some time, so her vision was a bit blurry, too.

“It’s so hot out!” Juliana complained. “Are you sure we aren’t melted by now?”

Juliana grabbed her sleeves and pulled them upwards, exposing her bare arms. After four years of living with Juliana, both Varian and Quirin were already used to her childish nature. It was better than the personality that she displayed for the past few years. She definitely had improvements. That didn’t mean that she was perfect. That childish personality of hers often led to her disadvantage, and Juliana was going to regret pulling up her sleeves.

“Ahhh, why are my arms so itchy?” she muttered, scratching at them. “Seriously, give a young lady a break!”

“Juli,” Varian commented. “You might want to cover up your arms for a while.”

“Huh? Why? There’s nothing wrong with—WHAT THE…”

There was an army of mosquitoes flying above the carriage. The weather was humid, and mosquitoes loved that kind of weather. It wasn’t just around the carriage; the mosquitoes were fluttering everywhere. Their bites were the source of the itchiness on Juliana’s arms, which were quite a lot.

Varian covered his mouth as well as his nose, quickly grabbing a spray bottle out of the bag they all decided to bring. He aimed the spray at the mosquitoes, and pulled the trigger, causing particles of chemical to start flying at the bugs. Each of them started becoming weaker and weaker, eventually collapsing onto the ground, some even landing on the carriage. Juliana, upon realizing that there were mosquitoes on her clothes and her hair, began growing wild and shaking them off. Varian and Quirin simply rubbed the struggling mosquitoes off, but Juliana was sobbing like crazy, trying to get the mosquitoes out of her skin.

Varian approached his crybaby of a friend, snatching the mosquitoes that were lying down on her ginger hair and her black dress. He threw them onto the ground, far away from where the carriage was, until no more mosquitoes were to be seen. Juliana, however, was scratching her arms, the parts where the mosquitoes took a bite of her skin. Varian pulled another chemical out from his bag; this one was something that could cure itchy mosquito bites. He began to take off the cap of the plastic that the chemical was located in, while Juliana was still wailing.

“Waaaaaaaaahhhhh!” she sobbed. “There are too many mosquito bites!”

“Oh, Juli,” Varian said. “You shouldn’t scratch them…”

Of course, it can’t be helped. Juliana’s instincts were pushing her into scratching the bites that were implanted on her arms. Once Varian finally got his noisy friend to calm down, he began to treat her injuries with the chemical he brought with him. Juliana wasn’t crying anymore. Instead, she was looking at him with a pouty face. Despite not sobbing like she was before, there were still tears located on her eyelids, threatening to fall down.

“Awww, it’s okay,” Varian rubbed her head again. “There, there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think I'm making Juliana suffer in this chapter, you haven't seen anything yet :)


End file.
